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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25549585">Fighting for the Future</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/GladsomePraetorian/pseuds/GladsomePraetorian'>GladsomePraetorian</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>RWBY</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst with a Happy Ending, Gen, I have a vague idea of what I'm doing, My First Fanfic, Originally Posted Elsewhere, Post-Volume 7 (RWBY), Pre-Canon, Time Travel, Weiss Schnee Needs a Hug, Weiss Schnee-centric</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 10:48:02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>108,132</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25549585</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/GladsomePraetorian/pseuds/GladsomePraetorian</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>The world of Remnant knows Weiss Schnee as a family disgrace, hidden away in a mental institution in Atlas. Only she remembers what might have been.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Blake Belladonna &amp; Ruby Rose &amp; Weiss Schnee &amp; Yang Xiao Long, Blake Belladonna &amp; Weiss Schnee</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>96</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>195</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. 1.1 - Ice, Part One</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p><b>Royal Atlas Institution for Mental Health</b><br/><br/>“I must say, General, that this is a most unexpected honour.” The Doctor began as he escorted them through the halls of the facility.<br/><br/>The unspoken question, of course, was <em>‘why are you here?'</em><br/><br/>Ironwood’s aides had, of course, informed the Administrator of the facility that General Ironwood would be visiting and inspecting their facilities and was hoping to visit a patient. Still, they’d offered minimal information as to Ironwood’s interest in any of their patients, aside from it being a matter of state security that they'd rather be kept quiet.<br/><br/>“Thank you, Doctor. I was motivated by curiosity in coming here, mostly. I’ve been told that your facility is the best in Atlas.” Ironwood explained, looking out through one of the hallway’s thick glass windows into a cafeteria filled with patients.<br/><br/>It was an impressive structure - a compound in the east of Atlas’ floating landmass, practically the size of a mansion and surrounded by a perimeter fence. Clearly, they’d done very well out of customers like Jacques Schnee and the money they brought with them.<br/><br/>Doctor Spruce was an older man, craggy and squinting behind thick glasses. Nonetheless, he stood tall as he took Ironwood on an impromptu tour of the grounds. As Administrator of the facility, he’d led a long career in the study of treating the insane. Even before today, Ironwood had heard his name come up every now and then.<br/><br/>Usually, Ironwood had found dealing with scientists and experts reasonably pleasant - people not caught up in bureaucracy, but simply in getting the job done within their respective fields without worrying about politics. Ironwood however couldn't help but find the imperiousness Spruce radiated a little irritating.<br/><br/>“Whilst I wouldn’t be so arrogant as to make such a boast, I will say that our work here is some of the most groundbreaking in Atlas when it comes to treating mental illness.” The Doctor elaborated.<br/><br/>Ironwood would easily admit that medical matters were far from his usual specialty but still, he couldn’t deny that he was curious, especially considering the peculiar reason he had come here.<br/><br/>“Indeed. I’ve heard that you’ve quite the success rate when it comes to curing your patients.” Ironwood went on.<br/><br/>The Doctor huffed approvingly. “Whilst of course, there are certainly conditions beyond our capacity to truly remedy, we do possess a remarkable success rate at allowing our patients back into society. Expert psychotherapy, Aura suppressants-”<br/><br/>“Aura suppressants? It was my understanding that those were typically reserved for-”<br/><br/>“Violent criminals, yes. However, it is also the case that a particularly unique Semblance can have… <em>negative </em>effects on the mind of a patient.”<br/><br/>“Is Weiss Schnee one of those examples?” Ironwood asked.<br/><br/>Doctor Spruce paused beside him in the hall, taking a moment to clean his glasses as he looked at Ironwood directly.<br/><br/>“Well… Weiss Schnee is a special case, for more reasons than one.”<br/><br/><em>Jacques Schnee's money being a big one, no doubt. </em>Ironwood politely avoided saying.<br/><br/>“Her Semblance is not the cause of her condition, but it has certainly enabled multiple escape attempts. I don’t suppose you’re familiar with the story of how she came to be brought here?” Spruce asked the General.<br/><br/>“Jacques Schnee isn’t exactly keen on having the particulars revealed.”<br/><br/>“Well, regardless, her Semblance allows her to… for lack of a better word, <em>summon</em> a variety of creatures. Grimm, mostly, save for one example. If we didn’t keep her regularly dosed, she’d quite easily be able to break out of this facility with considerable force.”<br/><br/>Ironwood nodded. He was more than familiar with that particular aspect of the Schnee Family’s multifaceted Semblance. He'd closely followed the education of her sister, Winter, at Atlas Academy with great interest. Winter was a good student and one who certainly looked like an excellent candidate for the Atlesian military's Specialists, if she so chose, but she’d never spoken of her family unless asked, however, and certainly not about her sister.<br/><br/>The General had worked with Jacques long enough to know that he could hardly blame her for that, though. It did make the matter of Weiss even more of a mystery, however.<br/><br/>“I’d like to speak with her. Privately, if possible.”<br/><br/>Spruce was silent for a moment. “That can be arranged, if this is after all, a matter of state security.” The Doctor said, clearly dubious of the notion that it could be.<br/><br/>Ironwood inclined his head gratefully, and the tour continued.<br/><br/>He and Weiss Schnee had a lot to talk about, he suspected.<br/><br/>---<br/><br/>The tour continued for some time. Spruce led the General through a variety of their low-risk living areas, where patients lived in relative freedom, considering their circumstances.<br/><br/>“If it isn’t her Semblance that causes her… complications, then what exactly is the nature of her medical issue?” Ironwood asked as they walked through an open air garden area, feeling dozens of eyes fixed on him. He supposed it wasn’t every day an Atlesian General visited.<br/><br/>“In layman’s terms? Extremely vivid and detailed delusions, mainly. She claims, at least to herself, to know a variety of people she simply has never met. She even talks to them, on occasion. She rambles and scrawls all over her walls. I’ve no doubt that she absolutely believes that they are real. A specific diagnosis has so far been impossible, however, despite bouts of cooperation on her part.”<br/><br/>“Is that really a reason to keep her in this facility, away from society?” Ironwood asked, his brow raised.<br/><br/>“It certainly is, General, when such delusions could motivate her to harm others.”<br/><br/>“And you’re certain they’re just that - delusions?” Ironwood asked cryptically, after a short while.<br/><br/>Spruce stopped, turning to the General with a suspicious look in his eyes.<br/><br/>“General Ironwood, where are you going with this? I don’t see how they could be anything else. She claims to have met these people when she was <em>seventeen years old. </em>She’s fourteen now, and has been admitted to this facility since she was <em>eight.</em>” Spruce replied dubiously.<br/><br/>“Tell me. Be frank. What is your motivation in coming here? I genuinely can’t imagine what it could be, to ask such questions.” The Doctor went on, eyes narrowed.<br/><br/>Ironwood sighed. He supposed he’d have to give Spruce something. The Doctor could make any attempt to speak with Weiss Schnee very difficult if he wished to, even for the Headmaster of Atlas Academy.<br/><br/>“My office received a letter - from Weiss Schnee. It had taken some time to reach me, but it was posted roughly a month ago. It’s what motivated my visit here.” Ironwood explained calmly. It was true, after all, albeit missing a few rather crucial details.<br/><br/>He didn’t mention what else had been in the letter. Only a few would ever know that.<br/><br/>Spruce looked off for a moment, seeming to recall something. “A month ago… that should be about the date of her last escape attempt.”<br/><br/>“Escape attempt? That seems… <em>ambitious</em> for a fourteen year old with limited Aura to try.”<br/><br/>“We were careless, General, and she was clever. She’d seemed to be recovering for a month prior. She’d been responding to her education well, and was cooperating with her doctors.”<br/><br/>“In the end, she’d managed to befriend a few fellow patients, and escaped by quite literally being thrown over one of the perimeter fences near our outdoors area, aided by a weak usage of her Semblance. It was a day before we found her. And she did that to <em>post a letter? </em>Most curious.”<br/><br/>Ironwood suppressed a smile at Spruce’s description of the escape attempt. If things had been different, she sounded like someone who could have done well at Atlas Academy.<br/><br/>---<br/><br/>Eventually, they were led to an isolated corner of the facility, and a room sealed by a large door, marked with the Schnee family crest. A sign on the door read ‘<em>Weiss Schnee’.</em><br/><br/>“Well, here we are, General. Allow me to open the door, and you shall be able to speak with her. Mr Schnee was keen to avoid any recordings getting out, so there are no cameras within her cell. So… if anything goes wrong when you’re alone with her, just call out.<em>”</em><br/><br/>“Thank you.” Ironwood was unworried. She had wanted to contact him, after all. He doubted she’d be particularly upset to see him, after all that effort - what reason would she have?<br/><br/>Spruce inputted a code, and the door quickly slid open with a mechanical <em>hiss.</em><br/><br/>Ironwood walked in, and saw-<br/><br/>Chaos. The room was empty. The bed was tossed to one side with force. A bookshelf lay toppled on the ground, papers scattered everywhere.<br/><br/>Ironwood's heart thumped. Had someone somehow-<br/><br/><em>No, no blood. It's not necessarily the sign of a fight.</em><br/><br/>His thinking was confirmed as he caught the sight of a vaguely person-sized hole cut into the floor in the corner. Good. He might not be too late, after all.<br/><br/>“Doctor Spruce?” Ironwood called out.<br/><br/>After a faintly muffled ‘<em>already?’ </em>the door opened once more, and Spruce came in. His cool demeanour shattered as he took in the sight, mouth agape.<br/><br/>“Oh, my. She’s…” The formerly composed man spluttered, clutching at his glasses as he surveyed the scene.<br/><br/>“When was this room last checked?” Ironwood asked hurriedly, looking around as he spoke.<br/><br/>“This morning, I’d think.” Spruce spoke in a panicked hiss.<br/><br/>“You might want to check with your perimeter security. It seems you’ve lost her.”<br/><br/>“O-of course,” Spruce spluttered, “What will-”<br/><br/>“I’m going to see what I can find in here.”<br/><br/>“Very well, General.” The Doctor conceded, and ran out, calling for security.<br/><br/>That out of the way, Ironwood turned and looked around the interior of the room, taking in what he could see.<br/><br/>“Well,” Ironwood muttered, squinting at the walls, “Looks like no more of Jacques’ paychecks for this place.”<br/><br/>The room’s bare walls were covered in scratch marks and pencil marks. Words. Images. People. It was a sizeable chamber - fitting for a Schnee with Schnee money paying for their place here, and every inch that was within reach was covered in markings.<br/><br/>He saw four people - four <em>Huntresses</em>, he realised quickly, repeatedly represented on the walls, always together - always in the same order - the pictures growing increasingly intricate in detail.<br/><br/><em>Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna, Yang Xiao Long.</em><br/><br/>Information surrounded each name, each shape - other names, places, other people, spreading out and intersecting with other names.<br/><br/>It looked like the work of a madman. When she’d clearly ran out of other means to draw on the walls, there were marks in the wallpaper where her bare fingers had sufficed.<br/><br/>Again and again, Ironwood read the word ‘RWBY’, everywhere on the walls. It was clearly a team name, if not one he’d heard of, scrawled over every surface that he could see.<br/><br/>The names were familiar, at least partially - assuming that the Xiao Long and the Rose mentioned were any relation to the well known members of team STRQ, which seemed likely, but <em>Belladonna?</em><br/><br/>That was a curious name for a Schnee to fixate on. One that could cause problems.<br/><br/>How she knew any of this - any of these people - and there had to be dozens of names and places written about the place - remained a puzzle. One option sat in Ironwood’s mind, but he dismissed it for now. He was more than used to world-altering revelations, but <em>that</em> seemed a stretch.<br/><br/>He turned to the discarded bed.<br/><br/>There was a hole, carved in the space where he presumed the bed had sat. Roughly the right size for a fourteen year old to slip through.<br/><br/>Peering over the edge, he made out the beginnings of a tunnel. It looked, uneven, like some parts had been carved with a blade, and others with frantic claw marks.<br/><br/><em>And she did this with minimal Aura?</em><br/><br/>A chuckle escaped Ironwood at that - the ambition of it all - and she’d gotten away with it!<br/><br/>Questions raced through Ironwood’s mind. He <em>needed</em> to find Weiss Schnee. If only that <em>damned</em> letter hadn’t taken so long to reach his office…<br/><br/>Still, Ironwood had to admit, he was starting to like how Weiss Schnee did things.<br/><br/>---<br/><br/>Weiss tore into the can of beans with relish, grinning as she shoveled the dry, tasteless things with her hands. It was unpleasant, but on the other hand, it <em>was </em>food.<br/><br/>The old her would have hated that. She remembered… something with… <em>Ruby… </em>oh, but she didn’t like remembering <em>that place.<br/><br/>Reminder - do not try walking across Anima again.</em><br/><br/>Regardless, she smiled. Food was food, despite the faint instincts of revulsion she’d inherited from Old Weiss’ certainly more refined palate. And besides, she was finally <em>out!</em><br/><br/>Crawling, then running about Atlas all day had left her stomach aching, not to mention her muscles. Fourteen year olds weren’t really built for evading the state services of Atlas, especially after they’d been cooped up in a mental institution for six years.<br/><br/><em>Damn drugs. Everything’s still so… faint.</em><br/><br/>Weiss took a breath, trying her best to feel at her Semblance, going through the motions, clenching her weak hands. She didn’t have much Aura for now - she had to use it cleverly, or-<br/><br/>“They’ll catch me. They’ll put me back in there, and then… I’ll never get out.” She muttered to herself.<br/><br/>Weiss shook her head. There was no giving up, now. She had to press on. Eight months of tunnel digging were not likely going to be repeated if she got caught now.<br/><br/>Getting out of that prison had just been the first step of the plan, of course. She’d had years to memorise certain things. Some things were simple - written down on sheets of paper and written off by those idiotic doctors as more of her rambling - of no consequence whatsoever.<br/><br/>Memorising the correct way to the civilian airship docks on the other hand? Somewhat more complicated. Still, the route Old Weiss had taken, would take… would not take...<br/><br/>No time for that sort of confusion, Old Weiss and Now Weiss would have no doubt agreed, if Old Weiss wasn’t just a set of faded memories in the back of the latter’s head.<br/><br/>Regardless, she remembered the way, and it was as easy to sneak through as it had been when she’d been… would be Weiss Schnee, heiress to the SDC, not Weiss Schnee, family embarrassment and mental patient. Mostly.<br/><br/>“No money to bribe my way on board this time. I’ll have to… think. Think sneaky - like… Blake.” Weiss said to no one in particular. “No offence intended, Blake.” She added last.<br/><br/>Yes, Blake was better at sneaking than she’d been. Less… loud. That’s how it had been, Weiss remembered.<br/><br/>Weiss rubbed at her eyes, drying away the tears that were collecting. Everything still felt so slippery inside her head. What if she was going to be like this forever? She only dimly remembered what it was like before the treatment started - when she could hold onto her thoughts better. Or had it been worse?<br/><br/>There were too many stories stuck in her head - all stacked up together in ways that rarely made sense.<br/><br/>She sat there for a few more minutes, hugging her knees as she tried to stay calm despite the confusion. She had a plan, she just had to remember the plan and everything would be alright. It didn't make her feel much better, but her breathing slowly steadied and the tears stopped coming after a little while.<br/><br/>Weiss knew she couldn't stay for long. She had to keep moving.<br/><br/>Beans finished with, she tossed the can aside, and made her way out of the alley she’d been hiding in. It wasn’t far now, she thought.<br/><br/>At least she wasn’t too cold, even in the Atlesian winter. She’d managed to pick up an old coat someone had left on a chair near one of the back alleys, keeping her warm, and more importantly, hiding the jumpsuit of a mental patient she was presently wearing underneath, while an abandoned knitted hat with only a few holes in it made for something to hide her rather notable hair with - what was left of it, after she’d cut away a fair length of it.<br/><br/>“Far too obvious.” She murmured to herself, feeling through the short, crudely cut tufts of ice-white hair she retained with one hand.<br/><br/>As for food and weapons, her summons at a suitably tiny size had managed to purloin a few things - a can of beans for one, and an old kitchen knife as well. It wasn’t Myrtenaster, but she doubted she’d be able to afford that beautiful gleaming blade this time around.<br/><br/>All in all, it was a sad collection compared to what she remembered having. Equipment, a team, <em>friends-</em><br/><br/>“Never mind that.” Weiss told herself, peaking out of her alley into the maze of streets that made up Atlas’ civilian dockyard district. If any part of Atlas could be called ‘rough’ to look at, and none could, the dockyards at least came close. The streets stank of dust fuel, packed with trucks loading and offloading cargo, filled with off-duty airmen and security forces at checkpoints.<br/><br/><em>Is it a left or a right, next</em>? Weiss wondered, scowling at herself. <em>It had made sense at the time…</em> Weiss grumbled internally, the memories faint in the back of her head.<br/><br/>---<br/><br/>Still, eventually she made it, after another hour of crawling, hiding, and finally seeing some signposts that directed her to the hangars, she was there, suspended atop the vents in the roof of one of the vast civilian hangars.<br/><br/>She was spoiled for choice here, Weiss thought, glancing over the ships currently docked, listening in on the chatter of the dockworkers below. Ships heading back to Windpath to pick up a shipment of fruit, a set of durable trucks headed for Vacuo, clothing being shipped to Vale.<br/><br/>Eventually, after clambering along the ceiling of the hangar long enough, she’d found what she was looking for. Machine parts being shipped to Patch.<br/><br/>“Patch.” She repeated the word a few times, letting it settle. She was so close.<br/><br/>Just one final step, and she’d be aboard. She’d stolen enough food with her summons already, hide out in a compartment. A ship like this would be in Vale’s airspace within a day or two.<br/><br/><em>Deep breaths...<br/><br/>You’ve got friends, Weiss. They’re real - this is all real, and you’re one step closer to finding them and sorting out all of this mess. You are not crazy.</em><br/><br/>She was going to make everything right, Weiss told herself. She had to. It was the only way to stay sane.<br/><br/>---<br/><br/><em>“James? This is an unexpected call, especially considering the hour.”<br/><br/>“Are you alone, Oz?”<br/><br/>“I am. What’s happened, James?”<br/><br/>“We have a situation over here in Atlas.”<br/><br/>“Oh?”<br/><br/>“I received a letter three days ago. I’d have hoped to confirm more before involving you, but this is almost all of what I have for now. Sending you the images now.”<br/><br/>“Hmm… who sent this?”<br/><br/>“Jacques Schnee’s daughter, Weiss - the one he had sent to an institution.”<br/><br/>“Curious. Have you been able to-”<br/><br/>“She’s gone missing, Oz, and I need to get to her - get some answers - before Schnee or someone else does. I have a suspicion she might be heading to Vale or Menagerie.”<br/><br/>“Unusual locations for a Schnee heiress to choose.”<br/><br/>“Have you checked the last images I sent you?”<br/><br/>“Ah. Curiouser and curiouser. Qrow will want to hear about this. He’s at Signal presently, but I’ll send him your way.”<br/><br/>“...Thank you. I’ll contact you if we find anything else.”<br/><br/>“Best of luck to you, James. If she turns up in Vale, I’ll let you know. I’ll alert the other headmasters, just in case they turn up in their jurisdictions.”</em></p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>This takes place roughly three years prior to the beginning of canon, though naturally canon has already diverged with regards to Weiss Schnee’s position.</p><p>For the purposes of the Time Travel, the mechanics of which will remain vague, Weiss remembers what she can up until the conclusion of Volume 7.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. 1.2 - Ice, Part Two</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p><b>Aboard the<em> Sunset, </em>cargo transport to Patch</b><br/><br/>“Hey, Opal, go check in the back! Think I can hear something rattlin’ back there!” A voice rang out through the airship.<br/><br/>"Everything rattles! We're carrying machine parts! They rattle!"<br/><br/>"Just go out and check! I don't want anything falling out or breaking back there!"<br/><br/>Weiss held her breath. As far as hiding places went, this wasn’t the best she could imagine, but it sufficed. Buried between two crates, she’d been gladdened to feel the effects of the drugs she’d been dosed on finally wear off.<br/><br/>It meant that between her time dilation and her small size, she’d been able to hide fairly successfully on the flight to Patch.<br/><br/>Weiss sighed, feeling her Aura, feeling that focus that for years had been so... <em>clouded </em>by the ever-present drugs - by the way they'd trapped her in that rotten place<em>. </em>It had made everything harder - escaping, planning, <em>remembering. </em>Not now, though. Everything felt clearer, now. The memories would hold. There were no doctors crowding around her to tell her that she was wrong. She could do this. She just had to hold on to what she could remember - focus on what she could still do. She would do it - for the world, for herself, and for her friends.<br/><br/><em>My friends... without remembering them... I wouldn't have lasted. I wouldn't have stayed me. Just like before.</em><br/><br/>Weiss was shaken from her thoughts as she heard and felt the clunk of footsteps in the cargo bay - fortunately, it didn’t look like this crew were expecting much in the way of stowaways. Still, she held her breath, and stayed still. She couldn't be caught now - not when she was so close.<br/><br/><em>Stay calm, Weiss. If Sun could hide out on a ship for longer than this at sea - it can’t be that hard to do it on a quicker flight. Even if the situation is a little different.</em><br/><br/>“Nah, don’t see anything!” The crewman called back, and Weiss just about made out the sight of a tired-looking Faunus woman in a blue flight suit and jacket looking around the cargo bay.<br/><br/>“Alright, get back up here," the over voice echoed from the front of the airship, "It’s your turn to fly now!”<br/><br/>The sound of footsteps got further and further away as the woman headed out of the bay. Weiss took another deep breath, before letting herself relax, just for a moment. It was cold, and even in her coat she was shivering in the chill of the cargo bay.<br/><br/><em>Not too long now, Weiss. Not too long.</em><br/><br/>She reminded herself of Yang’s warmth and strength, and she held on.<br/><br/>The flight had been smooth enough - this was still a well-policed route to Vale. Which meant minimal Grimm, even if minimal Grimm by the standards before the Fall of Beacon standards as she understood it still meant that Grimm were a not uncommon threat to smaller, slower airships.<br/><br/>Maybe things would be alright. The flight had been going for a while now. They’d be in Patch soon, and then she didn’t see what could stop her then.<br/><br/>---<br/><br/>It started with a strange noise - something strange behind the growl of the engines, and then a set of thumps against the ship’s hull.<br/><br/>Before long, she felt the turbulence, rocking the cargo back and forth, felt the ship’s speed declining. Then she realised it wasn’t simple turbulence. It was the sound of grappling cables hitting the ship’s hull. Then she heard the other sound - more engines.<br/><br/>Another ship was pulling up alongside theirs.<br/><br/>“<em>In the name of the White Fang, land, and give up your cargo! Comply, and you will not be harmed!”</em><br/><br/>It was the White Fang. They’d come, presumably for the machine parts stored on this ship, if not the ship itself outright, and now they were going to bring them down and search the ship.<br/><br/>Which meant that one way or another, this wasn’t a simple matter of stowing away anymore.<br/><br/>“Oh, come on!” Weiss hissed. This was going to complicate things...<br/><br/>---<br/><br/>“Come on out!” She heard one of the boarders - presumably White Fang - shout to the two crew of the ship. Nervously, hands raised, she just about managed to see them - a Faunus woman and a man in orange overalls the colour of their ship - approaching the hangar bay exit.<br/><br/>“Alright, alright! Just don’t - don’t hurt anyone, we won’t give you any trouble!” The man asked, nervously.<br/><br/>They’d descended shortly after being boarded and landed somewhere - perhaps an island short of Patch, if not the coastline of Vale’s peripheral regions itself.<br/><br/>Either way, Weiss had a few options - wait, and almost certainly be discovered, and possibly captured.<br/><br/>Or she could think like Ruby. Fight against bad odds. Make the best out of a bad situation, or something like that. She didn’t have a weapon, but she did have her Semblance.<br/><br/>She could be the Huntress she knew she could be.<br/><br/>“Good idea.” She thanked Ruby warmly, sitting herself up.<br/><br/>“What was that?” She heard a voice ask - presumably one of the Fang.<br/><br/><em>Well, that seems like a good cue to start.</em><br/><br/>Weiss grinned from behind her crate, and felt her Semblance’s power - shaped it in her mind, and <em>reached </em>out.<br/><br/>“<em>This.”</em><br/><br/>---<br/><br/>Veridian’s crew had scored the jackpot, as far as he was concerned. From the words of the sputtering human, they had enough machine parts to fix more than a few of the old trucks back at base.<br/><br/>He already had a few of his guys trawling through the back of the craft, ready to pull out each crate one by one and load what they could onto the bullhead.<br/><br/>Before him, the two crew of this little craft were on their knees, cowering before his crew. The White Fang's own airship lay back on the other side of the beach they’d landed on.<br/><br/>Veridian grinned underneath his beaked mask. This was the way of going about things, not Ghira’s cowardice. Khan saw the way of how things would be in the future. The Faunus would be strong and feared. With a thousand cuts, they'd bring the economic system that oppressed the Faunus to its knees.<br/><br/>He went over to the other crewman - the Faunus - canine, going by the ears atop her head. She scowled as he approached, holstering his weapon and looking her in the eyes.<br/><br/>“Y’know. You don’t have to stay with the humans. You could join us - join a real cause worth fighting for.” He asked her, his voice filled with magnanimity.<br/><br/>“Yeah, screw you, pal. You just cheated me out of my paycheck.” The woman spat.<br/><br/>“Just saying," He replied calmly, "It’s not too late to join the winning side.”<br/><br/><em>“</em>I’ll tell you where you can put your-<em>” </em>She hissed, and Veridian pulled back a little at the venom in her voice.<br/><br/>“Come on - just take our goods and go! We don’t want any trouble.” The other one - the human - cut in, nervously.<br/><br/>“<em>What was that?” </em>Someone called out in the background.<br/><br/>Veridian heard something behind him, a loud, strange sort of noise.<br/><br/><em>“Uh, boss!”</em> One of his crew screeched, and he turned to see them fleeing the interior of the ship, running away from a-<br/><br/>“<em>What the!</em>” He heard his second - Quetzal - scream and rush to ready his heavy gun, as a giant, lumbering knight seemed to rush out of the back of the airship, seeming to grow as it escaped the cramped space of the airship.<br/><br/>One of the Fang didn’t move fast enough, and he was quickly tossed to the ground in front of the main group by means of a swift kick.<br/><br/>Before long it stood before them, brandishing a shining sword almost as long as their bullhead. Its armour shone like blue ice, elegantly fitting the form of the gigantic figure. It stared them down, lowering its blade as if daring them to fire.<br/><br/>The White Fang around him were scattering, panicked. The two crew members had ducked to the side, crawling through the sand away from the combat. All around him, Veridian heard weapons being readied.<br/><br/>“Form a line!” Veridian roared - the giant lumbered a little closer as the White Fang pulled back, readying to fire.<br/><br/>“Do we shoot it?” One of his troops called out.<br/><br/>“What is it?” Another wondered aloud, struggling audibly with drawing their blade.<br/><br/>Veridian tried to say something, but the words were caught in his throat. It was - it was - <em>what was it?</em><br/><br/>“<em>Stop!” </em>A tiny little voice rang out, barely heard beneath the sounds of the panicking raiders.<br/><br/>“Who was that?” He heard someone ask.<br/><br/>They soon had their answer.<br/><br/>A child in an ill-fitting winter coat, with unmistakable white hair emerged from behind the giant knight, a stern look on her face.<br/><br/>'Gobsmacked' felt like an understatement to describe how he felt. Staring over between the kid and the glowing giant, Veridian still didn't have a clue what he looking at.<br/><br/>“Who the hell are you?” The White Fang member asked nervously, eyes looking back to his twitchy column of fighters.<br/><br/>“That’s not important.” The child - teenager, really - yelled back. “What’s important is that you all turn back and leave.”<br/><br/>Silence reigned over the beach, except for the waves and the clanking of the giant creature’s glowing armour.<br/><br/>“Uh, boss… What do we do?” He heard Quetzal ask nervously from behind him.<br/><br/>Veridian gulped. He was quite tempted to make a long battlefield speech about the wrath of Khan should this girl defy the Fang-<br/><br/>And then the knight twitched its big sword just a little, and Veridian decided he very much did not fancy dying to a weird child’s magic companion and its big glowing sword.<br/><br/>“A-alright - We’ll leave," He very quickly called out, lowering his weapon and raising his hands, "Just… don’t hurt us, okay?”<br/><br/>She glared at him, eyes fixed on his masked face.<br/><br/>It was the most terrifying thing he’d ever seen in his life.<br/><br/>“Okay then. Go away.” The child conceded, shooing them away with a gesture. Her eyes never stopped glaring straight at him, those blue-<br/><br/><em>Wait a second, is she a-<br/><br/>Nevermind.</em><br/><br/>Veridian turned and ran. The High Leader would want to hear of this.<br/><br/>---<br/><br/><b>Kingdom of Atlas</b><br/><br/>“Morning, Jimmy...” Qrow Branwen said as he stepped into Atlas, hopping off the ramp of the airship. He’d been crammed into a quick chartered flight courtesy of Ozpin that had taken him swiftly to the northern Kingdom.<br/><br/>Qrow, wrapped tightly in a dark coat, trademark cape fluttering in the Atlesian breeze, looked distinctly hungover. Dark circles hung under the man’s red eyes, and his skin was deathly pale.<br/><br/>“Hello, Qrow.” Ironwood offered a polite greeting. Behind him a full squad of Atlesians stood at attention, escorting the General.<br/><br/>Qrow Branwen was, for many reasons, a highly useful asset. Despite his... combativeness, Ironwood was certain he'd be able to drastically shorten any search he could make. Qrow was reliable, if not exactly pleasant to work with.<br/><br/>“Let’s cut to business, alright?" Qrow cut in before Ironwood could say anymore. "I’ve given the images you sent me a once-over. If my nieces are in danger because of some Atlas bullshit, I’d rather we sorted it out ASAP, okay?”<br/><br/>“Very well,” Ironwood conceded. “If you’ll follow me, I can go over what we know in a more... <em>private </em>environment.”<br/><br/>Since he’d been invited into Ozpin’s inner circle in recent years upon becoming Headmaster at Atlas, Qrow had always been the most dubious of his presence there. They’d had… disagreements in the past, about certain details of Atlas’ place within Ozpin’s global system.<br/><br/>Compared to those days, Qrow was being positively obliging. Ironwood could accept that, even if Qrow still walked around with an aura of insubordination.<br/><br/>“Sure. Lead the way.” Qrow said, following the Atlesian and his military escort to a nearby transport.<br/><br/>---<br/><br/>“The long and the short of it,” Ironwood explained inside his office in Atlas Academy, as Qrow lounged in one of the seats around his desk, “is that the girl knows about Salem, somehow.”<br/><br/>Qrow sipped at something from his flask as his eyes pored over the images displayed on Ironwood’s scroll - and the very real letter dropped in front of him on the desk.<br/><br/>“<em>I know about Salem - War is coming.</em>” Qrow read the crudely written text on the letter.<br/><br/>“Very dramatic. Kid’s got a great future in theatre. You’ve got proof it came from the girl?” Qrow asked.<br/><br/>“There's DNA evidence on the letter. Then there’s the rest of it.” Ironwood explained, scrolling to the next images. The images from Weiss’ cell, carved onto the walls and scrawled in notebooks.<br/><br/>Qrow's eyes narrowed. “So… She knows my nieces. Or thinks she does, because the Ruby Rose I know is 12. You call me in cos’ some whackjob Schnee’s been writing bad fanfic?”<br/><br/>Ironwood blinked. He wasn't exactly used to backchat in Atlas.</p><p>“I’m going to ignore that," the General said to Qrow, "but we have to consider the very real possibilities.”<br/><br/>Leaning back into his own chair, Ironwood sighed. This was going to be the hard part to argue for. “What I’m saying is that it’s possible that Weiss Schnee somehow has access to information from-”<br/><br/>“The future. So, you’re saying she’s some kind of... time traveler.” Qrow finished for him, taking a sip from his flask.<br/><br/>Hesitantly, Ironwood nodded.<br/><br/>“Alright, I buy it.” Qrow answered.<br/><br/>“You- <em>Wait, what?</em>” Ironwood did a double take at the usually obstructive man.<br/><br/>“I buy it, James," Qrow told him with a shrug, "You’ve got evidence. This kid who has no way of knowing about Salem knows about Salem, seems to know my nieces, but thinks she did in the future. She’s either the luckiest insane person ever or you’re onto something. Who knows? Probably some bullshit with the Relics that even Oz hadn’t figured out yet.”<br/><br/>Ironwood gawked for a half-second, before neutrality reasserted itself on his features. “So, you <em>do</em> think this is credible?”<br/><br/>“Sure.”<br/><br/>“Alright then, so I imagine you know what we want you to do.”<br/><br/>“Look for the Schnee girl.” Qrow nodded. “Consider it done.”<br/><br/>“I’ll send you a list of possible exit points she could have used. As of yet, we haven’t been able to find her on our surveillance systems, so that limits the number of routes she could have used upon getting out of the institution. If she’s out of Atlas already… we have a few possible destinations.”<br/><br/>“My nieces being one of them.” Qrow stated.<br/><br/>“Correct.”<br/><br/>Qrow glanced at his own scroll. “I’ll see what I can do. I’ll look for her myself, but it’s a large set of areas you want me to cover. We need more eyes, and not just Atlesian ones. I’ve got friends all over the place. I’ll make a few calls, slip a few Lien into friendly hands. See if they spot anything.”<br/><br/>Qrow got up, and patted Ironwood on the shoulder. “We’re on the same side, James. Even if you are an ass.”<br/><br/>---<br/><br/><b>High Priority Transmission To Atlesian Legation in Menagerie<br/><br/>From: Office of General James Ironwood<br/><br/>To: Minister Plenipotentiary of the Kingdom of Atlas to the Court of Kuo Kuana</b><br/><br/>Minister Anbar,<br/><br/>You are to enquire with Chieftain Ghira Belladonna as to any contact between his family and [REDACTED - INPUT ACCESS CODE TO ATTACHED PACKAGE]. Explain in unequivocal terms that any assistance he can lend us in finding [REDACTED] and bringing them to safety will be viewed as an act of friendship towards the Kingdom of Atlas. Attached files contain necessary information considered suitable for release to the Menagerie government.<br/><br/>Signed,<br/><br/>General James Ironwood, Councillor of Atlas.<br/><br/>---<br/><br/><b>Aboard the <em>Sunset</em>, cargo transport to Patch</b><br/><br/>They’d soon gotten the airship flying again, and now Weiss sat in a chair in the cockpit of the airship, resting her tired limbs. The two crew members had been both surprised at their stowaway’s existence and grateful for the assistance. Nothing much had been taken in the end, and the airship was largely undamaged.<br/><br/>They’d been shocked to hear that she'd been hiding out in the cold of the cargo bay, and had all but demanded she sit in the relative warmth of the cockpit.<br/><br/>It was a cramped little space, but there were six or so seats in there, and Weiss easily found room. She clutched proudly her latest souvenir - a discarded White Fang sword - close to her chest.<br/><br/>Weiss remembered the Fang well - remembered the suffering they'd caused - and remembered the real grievances they represented.<br/><br/><em>I'll try to make things better, Blake. I'm... sorry it took so long for Old Me to realise how bad things really were last time.</em><br/><br/>There was so much bloodshed that could be avoided if things went right. Things had to go right, this time. She wouldn't let up until they did.<br/><br/>Weiss groaned as she tried to find a cosier position in the flight seat. Summoning the knight in its full form was always a tad… exhausting, even when she’d done it as an adult, Weiss faintly remembered.<br/><br/>She didn’t remember everything feeling this <em>heavy</em>, or her Aura feeling so faint, though.<br/><br/>Weiss had half a mind to shut her eyes and go to sleep - for just a moment - when she smelled something hot and sweet in the cold air of the cockpit.<br/><br/>“Here, take this. You look like you could use it.” The Faunus crew member - Opal, Weiss remembered - offered Weiss a mug of what smelled of hot chocolate.<br/><br/>With shaking hands, she accepted.<br/><br/>She took a sip. It was sweet and crude. It was also delicious. She hadn’t had hot chocolate since… she couldn’t remember. It wasn’t her usual choice of ideal drink, but she enjoyed it all the same. It reminded her of Ruby.<br/><br/>Weiss gulped it down in moments. It warmed her instantly.<br/><br/>“Darn, kid. You look like it’s been a while since you’ve had a decent drink.” The other guy, a jovial pilot who'd introduced himself as Hansa, told her. His accent was Vacuan, and had an almost musical lilt to every word.<br/><br/>“Yep, the mental asylum didn’t have much hot chocolate.” Weiss explains, savouring the flavour of the cup of warm goodness. She didn't notice how the cockpit went quiet.<br/><br/>“That a joke?” Opal said.<br/><br/>“What joke?” Weiss asked back.<br/><br/>Silence again.<br/><br/>“Alright, going to just sidestep that,” Opal started. “Where were you planning on going after stowing away on our ship?”<br/><br/>“Going to Patch. Find some friends. Punch a few idiots.” Weiss explained. That about summed it up.<br/><br/>“Sounds fun.” Opal replied, reaching into one of her pockets.<br/><br/>Quickly, Weiss felt something else pressed into her hands; a set of cards Weiss took a moment to realise were Lien; she hadn't seen money in the flesh before.<br/><br/>“You don’t have to-” Weiss began to speak, before Hansa interjected from the pilot's seat.<br/><br/>“Listen, kid. You saved our bacon, throwing out those Fang," the cargo pilot told her gently, "A few Lien’s nothing compared to our livelihoods. I’m guessin’ you’re not exactly rolling in cash. So take the money. Consider it a reward for doing a little public service.”<br/><br/>Weiss stared down silently at the cards in her hand for a moment. It was easily enough to help keep her fed for a few days, until she figured something else out.<br/><br/>“... Alright.” Weiss conceded, pocketing the cards in her coat.<br/><br/>“No worries, kid. If you’re ever starved for work, I strongly recommend going into hostage negotiation. Looks like bringing a giant glowing knight to the scene does wonders for diplomacy.”</p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. 1.3 - Ice, Part Three</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <b>Patch, Kingdom of Vale</b>
</p><p>Opal and Hansa had seen her off from the hangars of Patch’s quaint little airship docks, and Weiss had melted into the crowds of the town.<br/><br/>Weiss spent a little while, just walking around - finding her bearings. She wandered around the streets, savouring everything about the place. The freedom of being able to just <em>walk</em> anywhere she wanted was refreshing, and the air just felt freer than the stale air of the institution - though that might have just been the altitude and the haze of drugs talking.<br/><br/>Still, after a few minutes, it finally sank in. She was out of Atlas - into a whole other Kingdom. She remembered going to Vale, of course, and then Mistral, but this wasn’t a faded memory - this didn’t feel like something another person had done. This was her, and she was here. It was nothing short of magnificent.<br/><br/>Patch was far from poor - being the ideal place to start a family in relative peace and quiet other than the odd pack of Beowolves had made it a magnet for emigrants from continental Vale - many of them retired Huntsmen not bothered by the prospect of having to kill a few Grimm to get some land for themselves.<br/><br/>As such, the few patches of real settlement, dotting the coastlines, did well from the custom of the inland homesteaders, as well as tourists from Vale. The port, though hardly as big as the eastern areas of Patch noted for possessing the prestigious Signal Academy, showed many signs of prosperity. There were elegant coffee houses and shops - more than a few larger combat stores advertising a variety of weapons and the latest Schnee Dust blends. Not to mention the quaint little bookstores.<br/><br/><em>This would have been a place Blake enjoyed</em>...<br/><br/>Weiss didn’t have time for tourism, though, nor the funds. This little part of Patch could have occupied her attention for days, but she had objectives.<br/><br/>The first part wasn’t too difficult - her limited supply of Lien was still enough for a quick meal and a drink, and what was left bought her a nice warm scarf made from red-dyed wool.<br/><br/>Still, she couldn’t help but be drawn to one thing. As she sat in one of Patch's cafes, there was an old non-holographic TV mounted on the wall, blasting the latest news with poor quality audio, but she could just about make out what was being said. Mostly, as she sat and ate and idly watched, it had been banal stuff. The weather report - snow, snow, and more snow this week, some sort of mini-documentary about the latest plans for fortifying some of Patch’s up and coming settlements. Nothing alarming.<br/><br/>And then her face was all over the screen, and Weiss at that point was very keen on keeping her hat firmly over what hair she had left and her face down in her mug of coffee.<br/><br/><em>‘Schnee Daughter Breaks Free From Mental Institution - Atlas Military Involved In Search Operation’ </em>read the headline, as some reporter summed up the findings so far. Fortunately, at least publicly, it looked like they thought she was still in Atlas.<br/><br/>Additionally, the general mood in the cafe as patrons discussed the news was ambivalent. Nobody seemed to particularly care for Jacques Schnee in the room, and nobody seemed to particularly care as her idiot of a father came on the screen, offering rewards for whoever saved his ‘<em>poor, sick daughter.</em>’<br/><br/>Weiss got up and left. She’d heard enough.<br/><br/>---<br/><br/>“<em>Tai.”<br/><br/>“Qrow - what’s this about?”<br/><br/>“Just thought I’d give you a heads up -”<br/><br/>“About what?”<br/><br/>“...There might be someone dropping by in your neck of the woods soon.”<br/><br/>“That’s a little cryptic, even for you, Qrow.”<br/><br/>“White hair, probably. Blue eyes. A teenager. Point is, for one reason or another, we’re looking for her, and she might end up in Patch. You see her, me and Oz’d be grateful if you give us a call.”<br/><br/>“Alright. Will do. Strange white haired- Wait a second, is this about that big Schnee case on the news? The one that broke out of a mental institution?”<br/><br/>“...It might.”<br/><br/>“Why would she be coming here? And why would you be doing dirty work for the Schnees? Ozpin not paying you enough?”<br/><br/>“I can’t talk about it. Not yet. Depends on how all this goes.”<br/><br/>“I don't hear a denial, there. Alright, alright. If I see any insane Schnees about the place, I’ll be sure to call.”<br/><br/>“Thanks. See you around, Tai.”<br/><br/>“You better be back soon, y’know. You promised Ruby you’d teach her how to use that monstrosity you call a weapon eventually.”<br/><br/>“And you called me an idiot for making that promise.”<br/><br/>“Yeah, but I’m not gonna tell her that now, am I?”</em><br/><br/>---<br/><br/>Fortunately, Patch, despite having several… <em>patches-</em><br/><br/>“No, Yang. That’s not funny.” Weiss butted in.<br/><br/>-several patches of untamed land, often rife with packs of Grimm, these areas were nonetheless connected by a honeycombed network of tracks and roads. That made finding her way around considerably easier, Weiss thought, as she pored over a travel pamphlet.<br/><br/>She’d never visited the Xiao Long household herself, but she remembered faintly the part of Patch it had been in. From there, it would be easy to find the place. It's not as if they were in hiding.<br/><br/>Besides, she had a big knife and a powerful Semblance. A few Beowolves were frankly beneath her, Weiss told herself.<br/><br/><em>Ruby, then Qrow, and then Ozpin...<br/><br/>You've got this, Weiss.</em><br/><br/>---<br/><br/><b>Atlas Academy, Kingdom of Atlas</b><br/><br/>Ironwood sighed, looking forlornly down at the bottom of the latest cup of coffee on his desk. The last day had been a busy one, and he'd scarcely left the confines of his office, poring over the latest reports from his agents and making calls to the growing network of individuals involved in the search for Weiss Schnee.<br/><br/>Ozpin's allies made for a formidable network of eyes and ears across Remnant. So far, though, it still hadn't been enough. Qrow’s investigations so far had found nothing. No one in Atlas had seen Weiss Schnee beyond rumours and glimpses. Any appearances by the girl on the surveillance network had been brief and at least a day or two ago.<br/><br/>His international enquiries had also borne out nothing. Minister Anbar had reportedly, in the most diplomatic terms possible, been laughed out of Ghira Belladonna’s mansion at the implication that his family had been associating with anyone bearing the last name ‘Schnee’, though it had been confirmed that his daughter was certainly named Blake.<br/><br/>It was also confirmed that she was not to be seen in the Chieftain’s household by other eyes in Menagerie, what few there were who would speak to Atlas.<br/><br/>That made things complicated.<br/><br/>Elsewhere, there hadn't been much reason to suppose she'd head for the other Kingdoms besides Vale - so far, only a few of the names she'd left on her walls for Ironwood to find had seemingly been of innocuous individuals - before him sat a short file on one of the names an ally of Qrow's had compiled - one Maria Calavera, resident of the Kingdom of Mistral - seemingly no one of any importance whatsoever.<br/><br/>Of course, there was also no way Weiss Schnee had ever met or heard of her - which only served to support Ironwood's theory.<br/><br/>This information - all of it - was important <em>somehow. </em>He'd seen to it that any and all information on those walls in the institute had been copied, before being destroyed. There was no way that he'd allow information like that - potentially valuable information, no matter how bizarre and disconnected it seemed at present - into Salem's hands. It would be far safer if Ozpin and his allies alone had access to Weiss Schnee's notes.<br/><br/>Regardless of any new leads on that end, however, it brought them no closer to finding Weiss Schnee.<br/><br/>Ironwood frowned. If that letter had just been <em>quicker-</em><br/><br/>There was no point fixating on that. There was still a chance Weiss Schnee would be found quickly. He had people at all the possible destinations…<br/><br/>If Weiss Schnee really did know as much as he suspected… It was possible she’d be a major boon.<br/><br/>If he didn’t find her, and the tone of her warnings seemed accurate, it could spell disaster.<br/><br/>The vibration of his scroll brought him back from his thoughts, and he quickly answered the call.<br/><br/>“<em>Uh, sir.</em>” Sounded the voice of one of his aides on the other side of the call. The man, one of the veteran civil servants who kept the machinery of Atlas’ state running, sounded… distinctly nervous.<br/><br/>“Yes?”<br/><br/>“<em>There’s been… a slight leak, sir.</em>”<br/><br/>Ironwood’s frown deepened. “In what regard?”<br/><br/>“<em>Mr Schnee’s received a copy of our transmission to Menagerie. He’s demanding updates, making noises about going to the press - demanding to know about why you think she’d possibly be in Menagerie. He wants to put an SDC-hired Huntsman in charge of your investigation.</em>”<br/><br/>Ironwood was silent. His right hand clutched at the wood of his chair. He felt something splinter in his cybernetic grip.<br/><br/>Schnee was usually cooperative. He was usually something resembling an ally to Ironwood’s interests, as much as he could be irritating, arrogant, and downright unpleasant to work with.<br/><br/><em>If Jacques Schnee gave a damn about his daughter, she wouldn’t have been where she was.</em><br/><br/>This was all about saving face on the part of the Dust magnate - defending his reputation by making himself look the doting, tragic father, and making Ironwood and the military look like fools.<br/><br/>“Let him stew. I’ll call him myself in the morning. If he thinks he can pressure my office, he’s wrong. We deal with him on our terms.”<br/><br/>The call ended, and Ironwood leaned back with a sigh. He loved his home, but he really hated dealing with Atlesians sometimes.<br/><br/>---<br/><br/><b>Patch, Kingdom of Vale</b><br/><br/>It wasn’t long before she was a ways away from Patch’s busy little port - and into the countryside, or wilderness, if you weren’t feeling complimentary.<br/><br/>All around Weiss were miles of snow and forests cresting the distant hills. An airship rushed overhead, cutting through the air above swiftly - it was going in the direction of Vale, Weiss thought.<br/><br/>They'd probably be in Vale before she crossed the next ridge. Patch might have looked small on the map and have a reputation as a quiet little island, but it was still vast to cross on foot. The expanse before her would have been beautiful, if she were looking to make postcards out of the place.<br/><br/>It was an absolute bitch to walk through, though. The snow was thick, and beyond the vague impression of a path in places, it masked everything that lay below it on the ground. She had to be careful.<br/><br/>The walk was tiring, as well, especially to Weiss' legs. They felt irritatingly weaker than she'd remembered - six years in a madhouse hadn't been kind on her thin frame. Soon, she felt the need for a brief rest, and she sat off the side of one of the footpaths, catching her breath.<br/><br/>"It's alright. We'll... get past that. It's... it's... a while before things started happening," Weiss mumbled to herself, crawling through the memories in her head. "Plenty of time to get yourself in shape."<br/><br/>She chuckled to herself, gently. This was all finally happening. It was all going to be okay. Something strange came over her. All of a sudden, she started laughing.<br/><br/>She was free. Every thought that had spun around in her head - every dream - every memory - she could act on it, <em>prove it. </em>She was free again - perhaps not in the way Old Weiss had managed it, but all in all, she wasn’t complaining.<br/><br/>Weiss couldn’t help it. She laughed. She leapt into the air - the <em>fresh, fresh air.</em> She fell on the floor and rolled in the snow.<br/><br/>Six years spent indoors most days, in cramped, ugly rooms being asked stupid questions by idiots paid by her moron of a father…<br/><br/>It was over. She was free.<br/><br/>“<em>I’m out!</em> You hear me? I’m out, and I’m not going back in again!” She screamed at nothing, lounging in the snow.<br/><br/>She laughed and laughed until her voice felt hoarse. She danced and jumped around like a maniac until her legs hurt. And then she fell onto the snow, her lungs heaving. The snow was bitter cold, but she didn't care. It was a happy sort of pain.<br/><br/>Weiss closed her eyes, and smiled at the warmth of the sun on her face.<br/><br/>She could afford a few moments of self-absorbed insanity. She’d earned that much.<br/><br/>“Alright, Weiss. We made it this far. Now what do we do?” She asked herself.<br/><br/>Ruby was the long-distance walker. Weiss had loathed every second of having to walk from the wreckage of the train to Argus. Ruby had crossed a continent, she remembered.<br/><br/>Patch was nothing compared to either.<br/><br/>Weiss sighed, and thought of her friends.<br/><br/>Every day the memories sunk somehow into Weiss’ head grew fainter. She knew in her heart she’d already forgotten so much - hated how faint her remembered impressions of those dear people felt sometimes.<br/><br/>She had to hold on. For everyone’s sake, if she really was the only one.<br/><br/>“What would you say to me now, Ruby?” She asked the empty air.<br/><br/>“I have to admit, I’m not exactly sure what precisely I’m going to do once I find you. But y’know, you’d probably say something about perseverance and not giving up.” Weiss went on.<br/><br/>She knew that no matter what, she'd do what she could to make things right.<br/><br/>Weiss would have continued with lounging in the snow with her possibly concerning conversation with herself and her remembered impressions of her friends, if she hadn’t seen it in her periphery; the jaws poking out of the brush, the hungry red eyes that glared at her with unmistakable intent.<br/><br/>She supposed it was inevitable that she’d run into the Grimm sooner or later.<br/><br/>Still, they could have picked a better time, Weiss concluded.<br/><br/>“Oh, will you go away! I’m having a moment!” She spat at the growling creature.<br/><br/>It offered no retort - simply growling in that mock-noise. A single claw reached out into the snow, and it emerged. Just as she’d remembered from Old Weiss.<br/><br/>It wasn’t a wolf, despite the name. It was nothing like a wolf. It was closer to some primordial idea of a wolf, distorted and swollen with grotesque mass and false, smoking fur - like a nightmare given form.<br/><br/>She remembered them well from her own nightmares; remembered how they’d haunted her for so many nights; remembered seeing them racing over the grounds of Beacon - making that place - that second home of hers - into their <em>den.</em><br/><br/>Still, despite it all, Weiss didn’t think she felt afraid. She was too busy to feel afraid, right now.<br/><br/>“Alright, then.” Weiss huffed, and <em>reached </em>out with her glyph.<br/><br/>The Grimm screamed a challenge, clawing its way closer across the snow.<br/><br/>Her summoned companion, shining in resplendent plate, answered for her.<br/><br/>---<br/><br/>In the end, she walked for miles without much trouble after that. Fortunately, Patch wasn’t the backwoods of Anima. No Lancers, no Manticores. Beowolves were old hat, at this stage.<br/><br/>Eventually, however, trouble reared its head.<br/><br/>She could sense how the Grimm began to stalk her, walking along the country roads of Patch. At first, it was just a quiet noise in the background - a faint trudge of claws through snow. Then the trudging grew louder, and she heard them - saw them - shadowed shapes in the dark corners of the woods and bushes that threatened to overtake the faint paths.<br/><br/>Only one pack dared to attack her head on - only one had the numbers - perhaps a dozen of the wolf-like creatures, heads poking through the brush onto the footpath.<br/><br/>She’d summoned the knight again, dodging around the hulking warrior with her glyphs as her Semblance did the killing for her.<br/><br/>Weiss was aware that she didn’t have much strength of her own, but she kept the blade close, just in case.<br/><br/>Still, she felt herself growing more and more tired every second the fight went on. This was more than a few lowly Beowolves. This was more like the Emerald Forest, as Weiss remembered that day.<br/><br/><em>And Ruby and Yang grew up here?</em><br/><br/>Still, she didn’t need to do much except dodge. The knight was as magnificent as she remembered, swiftly moving with brute force among the pack of whining, whooping Grimm. Claws broke against its skin; Grimm-flesh faded into smoke wherever its blade went.<br/><br/>Before long, the Grimm pack had been rapidly reduced - Weiss hadn’t been keeping count, but as she danced around her knight in the snow it was obvious that there were only a few left.<br/><br/>Soon, all that Weiss could see was the last one - an Alpha - bulky and covered in bony spines, it looked upon them with a cruel gaze. It was smart, but it wasn’t smart enough to give up.<br/><br/>The aged, hulking creature pounced with unnatural speed. It died in an instant as her summoned blade clove it in two, from mouth to tail.<br/><br/>She didn’t notice the sounds behind her. Didn’t notice the growl. She had only seconds to try and move as it soared through the air in her direction. It wasn’t enough.<br/><br/>The beowolf was on her in seconds, her body limply flung across the snowy floor as its bulk crushed against her.<br/><br/>She screamed as she felt her Aura falter for just a moment - screamed as she felt just the tip of the claws pierce cloth and skin.<br/><br/><em>Not like this not like this not like this-</em><br/><br/>Her Aura flared - she felt a brief burst of strength and energy. It was just enough. The sword felt heavy in her hands as she managed to turn and drive it into the hulking creature’s eye.<br/><br/>It fell back, screaming, blade still jammed into one of its glowing red eyes. Weiss fell back onto the floor, limp.<br/><br/>She didn’t have anything else, she thought, as she lay there, wheezing in pain.<br/><br/>The last Grimm died quickly, all the same - a shining blade ending it with one swing of the knight’s blade.<br/><br/>She lay there, for a few seconds, taking shallow, pained breaths, as the forest path fell once more into silence. It had just been a few seconds - a moment of distraction, but the Alpha Grimm had bought the other enough time to almost end her.<br/><br/>Tentatively, Weiss reached with a hand to the wound on her back. It was healing, just about. She still had some Aura left. But the coat was all but ruined.<br/><br/>She reached into one of the pockets, feeling the familiar bulk of the most precious item she carried. The notebook was intact. Good. That would make things easier, later on.<br/><br/>Still, she had little in the way of protection from the cold - her clothes and her Aura would provide little protection. Patch wasn’t Solitas, but the cold could still be dangerous.<br/><br/>She looked up to the knight, standing over her, protecting her with its bulk.<br/><br/>“I don’t think I can do this.” She told it. "Not this way."<br/><br/>This wasn’t as easy as she remembered. Everything felt weak. She hated it. Hated all of this.<br/><br/><em>Emotions, Weiss. Remember the Grimm. Breathe. You made it out. You made it here. This is not going to stop you.</em><br/><br/>More of this was going to take more than Weiss could give. She’d have to take a different approach.<br/><br/>“Screw it. We’re flying.” Weiss muttered to the now-smoking corpse of her latest kill.<br/><br/>She tried not to think about the gash on her back. She felt something hot running down her back, before her Aura just about managed to seal the wound.<br/><br/><em>Almost there, Weiss. Almost there.</em><br/><br/>The Queen Lancer would take every drop of strength she had. On the other hand, so would walking across this damn island, and that would take longer.<br/><br/>It was worth the risk, Weiss thought, as she focused on her Semblance once more, dispelling the knight and bringing forth a new shape.<br/><br/>---<br/><br/>She could see it now. See the house amidst the clearing - beautiful as it stood amongst the snow - a quaint little edifice of wood. It looked like a home.<br/><br/><em>This is the place.</em><br/><br/>It had to be. Weiss could tell from her little map that she was in the right place.<br/><br/>She’d dropped from her Queen Lancer a few minutes back, certain she’d found it. Flying had been a risk - she hadn’t wanted to attract much attention, but she’d also been aware of how little strength she had left. Another fight would be dangerous. Swiftness was the better option.<br/><br/>Still, it had been bitter cold, colder than the flight to Patch, rushing through the air towards her destination. Her Aura had never felt so paltry.<br/><br/>She’d managed to set down in the end, conscious of how faint her connection to the Queen Lancer felt, and had stumbled her way back onto the country paths that covered Patch. She’d run in to a few people, walking the road, and asked if this was near the Xiao Long household, and been pointed in what she’d hoped was the right way.<br/><br/>She almost wanted to laugh with joy as she saw the sign at the gate to their little patch of land.<br/><br/>“This is it.” Weiss wheezed, her teeth chattering in the cold.<br/><br/>She stumbled on to the snow-covered driveway, inching closer and closer to the house itself.<br/><br/>“I’ve made it, Ruby, Yang, Blake. I've made it. I won’t let you down.” She promised her friends, trying her best to ignore the pain that sang across every inch of her - ignore the rush of excitement in her head and her heart that left her feeling faint.<br/><br/><em>This is it this is it this is it this is it-</em><br/><br/>“Breathe, Weiss. Don’t want to get sent on your way because you rambled like a lunatic.” She muttered to herself, as she limped across to the front door.<br/><br/>It was a short walk towards the house. It didn’t look like anyone was around outside, but she could just about hear faint noises coming from inside, which was good. She didn’t want anyone to come back and find a passed out mental patient slumped against their door.<br/><br/>Her hand twitched as she raised it to knock at the door.<br/><br/>Everything felt… faint. Distant. She hurt - from the cold - from the fights - from… everything.<br/><br/><em>Almost there, Weiss. Almost there.</em><br/><br/>She knocked on the door. It was a weak noise against the thick wood that composed the door, but she soon heard footsteps behind it. There was a dog barking, Weiss thought she could hear.<br/><br/>The door soon opened, slowly, hesitantly, and Weiss saw a familiar face.<br/><br/>Ruby Rose was shorter and younger than Weiss had ever seen her, but it was her. Her dark red hair was that same mess it had always been, and the thick hooded sweater she wore matched the colours she had always worn.<br/><br/>Even as she winced from the pain - from the aches that seemed to be everywhere, Weiss smiled at the sight.<br/><br/>“Uh... hello?” Ruby Rose asked the complete stranger at her door.<br/><br/>Weiss took a long, slow breath. What was she going to say? What could possibly convey the pent up emotions of six years of isolation? What would be right to say to someone who didn't even know her?<br/><br/>“Oh, good.” Weiss exclaimed with a snort, and promptly fainted.</p><p> </p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. 1.4 - Ice, Part Four</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p><b>Patch, Kingdom of Vale</b><br/><br/>Yang peered down at the sleeping girl. The white-haired teenager lay gently snoring, wrapped up in just about every blanket they’d managed to fit on the three person couch, only her head poking out of the pile of sheets.<br/><br/>She still hadn’t woken up since Ruby had called Yang down, screaming about a strange person fainting in the doorway.<br/><br/>They’d done their best to carry her in and make sure she was okay. Yang had completed a basic first aid course at Signal, so she knew the basics of dealing with unconscious people. Of course, that was when they’d realised who she was.<br/><br/>Weiss Schnee - international mystery and, going by the big knife she had and the cuts she had - now an official badass.<br/><br/>It hadn’t really been hard to figure out. The girl’s clothes had been tattered, but beneath the coat, the distinctive jumpsuit with the markings of some Atlesian institution was still there - also fallen to bits. Her Aura had done a bad job of healing a bad wound - there was still a nasty scar and a lot of blood dried on her back.<br/><br/>Besides, on winter days like this, there wasn’t exactly much to do but sit back and watch TV. Weiss Schnee’s face looked different - older than the picture they were putting on the news, but it was definitely her, even if she’d done a really, <em>really</em> bad job of cutting her hair short.<br/><br/>Yang grimaced, idly fiddling with the golden locks that grew longer every day, that fell down her back. Sure, she'd do it if she had to, but Weiss' hair was going to take a long time to grow back.<br/><br/>Still, Yang and Ruby weren’t particularly worried. However the girl had made it this far, she didn’t look that dangerous, even if she'd somehow broken out of a mental institution. Yang reckoned she could take her in a fight pretty easily.<br/><br/>"D'you think she's gonna be alright?" Ruby asked nervously, just about managing to peer over the back of the couch to keep an eye on their guest.<br/><br/>Weiss was tiny - despite apparently being as old as Yang, she was only just taller than Ruby. She didn’t look like much of a fighter - she was all skin and bones and she didn't look like she'd been eating well lately. Still, she had to have been clever if she’d made it this far.<br/><br/>"Her Aura's starting to heal her. She'll be fine." Yang gently reassured her little sister, quietly hoping she wasn't wrong. Everyone at Signal went through a basic medical course, but Yang hadn't ever tried helping someone who'd actually been wounded like Weiss had.<br/><br/>They’d managed to get her some of Yang’s pyjamas which, while a little big on the frankly tiny girl, were probably going to do a better job of keeping her warm than the pile of rags she’d had on her.<br/><br/>Ruby hopped back into the room in a short burst of rose petals - just about managing to stop her Semblance before she had a chance to <em>thwack </em>against the wall. Her little sister's Semblance was still a little... temperamental, and she only really used it when she was either really excited, panicked, or in open spaces where she didn't have to worry about controlling it.<br/><br/>Yang's sister was in charge of cooking something up for the sleeping girl - a nice bowl of soup sounded like something she'd appreciate after being stuck outside in the cold for who knew how long. Yang might have been the older sister who'd always looked out for Ruby, but cooking was <em>not</em> a skill she'd ever picked up, so in the interests of not poisoning their new guest, Ruby had started getting some hot food ready in the kitchen.<br/><br/>“It is pretty cool.” Ruby said after a moment.<br/><br/>“What’s pretty cool?” Yang asked.<br/><br/>“Y’know. Going on the run, breaking out of Atlas. Sneaking over to Patch somehow," Ruby explained, "And she doesn’t even have a weapon! Well… not a very good one.”<br/><br/>“Oh, yeah. Definitely.” Yang nodded.<br/><br/>“What do you think she wants with us, or Dad?” Ruby asked after a while.<br/><br/>“I dunno, sis... Maybe she just knocked on the first door she could find? I still don't get how she got from Atlas to Patch, or why, y'know. We're not exactly a major attraction.” Yang said, looking down curiously at the girl, before suddenly turning back to Ruby. “Hey, are you keeping an eye on that soup?”<br/><br/>“Uh… nope?” Ruby grinned at her sister nervously. The smell of something burnt started to waft into the living room, and the telltale sound of Zwei starting to try and hop up to get at the food echoed in with it.<br/><br/>“<em>Alright…</em> Might need to start again on that.”<br/><br/>Still, as Yang rushed back into the kitchen, she couldn’t help but keep wondering why, of all the places in Remnant, Weiss Schnee was in Patch and on her couch.<br/><br/>---<br/><br/><em>“Why hello, Jacques.”<br/><br/>“Don’t you ‘why hello’ me, James. You might be a friend of this family, but you are coming dangerously close to interfering in my private affairs.”<br/><br/>“I don’t see how-”<br/><br/>“Your office has refused my requests for information about the search for Weiss at every turn. I demand to be informed about the possible whereabouts of my own damn daughter!”<br/><br/>“...I’ve been informed you’ve been making threats about Dust sales in Menagerie until information about your daughter is released. I assure you, we have had no indication that the Menagerie government had anything to do with-”<br/><br/>“Then why are you wasting time looking for her in Menagerie? Why is it that you are making the search international at all and involving foreign powers in my own family’s business? As far as I’m concerned, we’ve had no indication that my daughter has even left Atlas! The longer this mess goes on, the longer my reputation is at risk!”<br/><br/>“I’m sorry, Jacques. As a matter of state security, I can only reveal so much, even to you.”<br/><br/>“State security, he says! State security! I’ve never heard such nonsense in all of my life! I assure you, James, if this incompetence is what is to be expected from you in the future, then I am quite capable of making life very difficult for you!”<br/><br/>“Is that a threat, Jacques?”<br/><br/>“Merely an observation of the facts. If my family’s private affairs are aired out for the public to the detriment of my own reputation, I can assure you that I will respond. If you don’t find that little lunatic soon, I’ll-”<br/><br/>“Goodbye, Jacques.”<br/><br/>“I’ll go to the Council about this if I have to, James! You can’t just-”</em><br/><br/>---<br/><br/>Ruby disappeared instinctively into a rush of rose petals as Weiss woke up screaming.<br/><br/>It wasn’t any sort of scream she heard before - not the kind when strange people saw a spider and acted like a Beowolf was in the house. It was almost like one of those horror films Yang very, <em>very</em> carefully put on in the night when she thought Ruby wouldn't notice and even then, she left the volume on <em>very</em> low.<br/><br/>Only this scream wasn’t fake. Weiss Schnee was awake, and she was looking around the room like someone was trying to kill her. She was flailing and thrashing beneath the sheets, and rambling all kinds of words and names to herself. It was sad and painful and horrible, and <em>Ruby just wanted it to stop.</em><br/><br/>So she did the only thing she knew how to do to help people when they were sad.<br/><br/>She rushed up through the air, onto the couch, and hugged the sobbing, screaming girl.<br/><br/>“<em>It’s okay it’s okay it’s okay it’s okay-</em>” Ruby repeated again and again as she held the girl tight.<br/><br/>She felt tears pooling onto her from where Weiss’ head rested on her shoulder, but she didn’t let go. They sat like that for a while, and slowly but surely, the pale-haired girl began to calm down - she stopped thrashing quickly, but she kept making sad, drawn out noises - like she was in pain, and Ruby didn’t think it was because of her hugs.<br/><br/>After a moment, Ruby made out the faint impression of blonde hair in the corner of her eye, and felt a familiar hand reassuringly squeeze her shoulder.<br/><br/>“You’re doing great, Ruby.” She heard Yang comment quietly from behind. Her sister must have rushed in from the kitchen when Weiss had woken up.<br/><br/>Ruby didn’t feel great. She’d never seen someone feeling so... awful. Not for a while, anyway.<br/><br/>Why was this girl so <em>hurt?</em><br/><br/>Eventually, after what felt like minutes, Weiss stopped, her slow, steady breaths sounding hoarse and pained. Slowly but surely, she quieted down. Before long, they were sitting quietly, Ruby’s arms still clamped around the Schnee.<br/><br/>“Where - where am I?” The girl asked after a while, rubbing away at the tears. Ruby let go and looked her in the eyes.<br/><br/>“You’re in Patch - you knocked on our door, remember?” Ruby asked her. Weiss was still shivering as she seemed to realise where she was.<br/><br/>“I… I passed out?” Weiss asked, eyes nervously glancing about the room. She gasped at the sight of Yang for some reason, but rapidly went quiet as she sat straighter up on the couch.<br/><br/>“It’s alright. You’re safe here.” Ruby promised her.<br/><br/>The news had said the girl on the run was possibly dangerous. Weiss Schnee didn’t look dangerous at all in those moments. She just looked sad.<br/><br/>---<br/><br/>“Are you okay?” Ruby asked her, as Weiss blinked her way back into reality.<br/><br/><em>You’re in Patch, Weiss. You’re not there, you’re not in Atlas. You’re in Patch. You’re safe.</em><br/><br/>Weiss rubbed at her face. It was still wet. Her throat hurt.<br/><br/>The dreams always came in bouts and spurts. Sometimes she’d go for weeks in peace. Then she’d have a week where every night was the same.<br/><br/>Dreams. Like memories, but worse. Distorted. Promising what the future would be if she failed. These were the things her mind would never let her forget. The worst parts of all.<br/><br/>She had to fight to remember the good parts.<br/><br/>Yang had handed her a box of tissues, Weiss realised after a moment of dimly looking down at the container in her hands. Quickly, she pulled out a few and started to claw away the tears.<br/><br/>"Thanks." Weiss croaked, "Sorry for screaming."<br/><br/>"No problem," Yang assured her, "At least that way we know you're not dead, right?"<br/><br/>Ruby turned back to face Weiss. "Are you hurt?" She asked worriedly.<br/><br/>Weiss shook her head quietly. She ached and the wound on her back stung, but that was fine. She was safe, now, and she'd heal.<br/><br/>“I’m sorry. I just have… A lot of things, bouncing around in my head, sometimes," Weiss muttered, as she looked between the two sisters, "This is not how I wanted this to go.”<br/><br/>“What d’you mean?” Ruby asked hesitantly, in that Ruby-ish way, the look in her silver eyes as kind and friendly as Weiss had remembered.<br/><br/>“I had a plan, getting here," Weiss explained with a shrug, "This is… slightly off from what I’d had in mind. Still, thanks for… not calling the police on me?”<br/><br/>Ruby snorted at that. “Why would we do that? It’s not like you did anything wrong.”<br/><br/>They'd explained soon enough that they'd figured out who she was. She was relieved to see they weren't too worried about her around them - that meant this would all only hurt a little.<br/><br/>“I<em> did </em>break out of a mental institution," Weiss told her, feeling more aware with every moment,"I think that breaks a few laws.”<br/><br/>“Yeah. That sounded pretty cool on the news. How’d you do it?” Ruby asked eagerly.<br/><br/>Weiss smiled back. Ruby was <em>adorable.</em><br/><br/>“The short answer? I used my Semblance to dig a tunnel out of the place they were keeping me in. I can, uh, summon things that can fight or, in this case, dig tunnels. Took a while, but it worked. Then I ran and stowed away on a ship to Patch.” Weiss explained. It had taken months to dig that tunnel, clawing carefully out of the floor of her cell and beneath. Finally getting out had been… exhilarating.<br/><br/>"Whoah," Yang muttered, looking Weiss up and down curiously, "That sounds pretty crazy."<br/><br/>“That sounds awesome!” Ruby beamed.<br/><br/>Weiss couldn’t help but brighten up a little at Ruby’s enthusiasm. “It was kind of awesome.”<br/><br/>Ruby seemed to realise something suddenly. “Oh, I forgot to introduce ourselves. I’m Ruby. That’s my sister, Yang.” The girl said, gesturing between herself and her sister, who offered a friendly wave. “There’s Zwei,” She gestured over to the dog currently lazing about on the floor, “Dad’s usually around, but he’s out in town today.”<br/><br/>Weiss smiled. It was good to see them - her friends. Here they were, Ruby and Yang… Not how she’d remembered them, not exactly, but here they were.<br/><br/>Ruby was younger, of course - Yang too - she’d clearly not quite finished growing yet, so her ridiculous hair seemed to reach even further down to the ground.<br/><br/>Still, it <em>was </em>them. They were real. It was all real. She’d finally made it - met someone she remembered from before.<br/><br/>She wasn’t crazy.<br/><br/>Even Zwei was around, sitting in the corner, nervously glancing over at the trio on the couch. It was fairly understandable why the little dog didn’t want to interact with the girl who’d just woken up screaming, Weiss supposed.<br/><br/>Weiss looked around the room they were in. It was a cozy, open looking living room. Their house was warm and lovely and everything that… <em>that place </em>hadn’t been.<br/><br/>“Hi. I’m Weiss.” She introduced herself, offering Ruby a still-twitchy handshake. Nervously, the girl accepted it with an awkward chuckle.<br/><br/>Right. Ruby hadn’t been very good at the whole… people… thing.<br/><br/>“Oh, we made you soup!” Ruby said suddenly, rushing off somewhere. She returned quickly with a bowl of something hot-looking on a tray. Weiss gently accepted the tray, retreating beneath the sheets packed onto the sofa with a shiver. She still felt so very cold, and her back felt… bad.<br/><br/>“You were pretty cold when we brought you in. Maybe this’ll make you feel better?” Ruby asked, sitting herself besides Weiss.<br/><br/>Hesitantly, Weiss took a spoonful of the hot soup. It was pleasantly warm - not exactly high cuisine, but compared to what she’d been eating for the past few years, it was magnificent.<br/><br/>“Thanks.” Weiss beamed.<br/><br/>This was nice, Weiss realised. She hadn’t felt this calm… this <em>safe</em>... since…<br/><br/>She wasn’t surprised to realise she didn’t remember.<br/><br/>---<br/><br/>Sooner or later, she supposed they had to ask.<br/><br/><em>What are you doing here, of all places?</em><br/><br/>“I came to speak to your Uncle,” Weiss explained, idly scratching at her scalp, feeling tufts of hair come free from where she’d put it to the knife, “I needed to get a few messages to him.”<br/><br/>“You know Uncle Qrow?” Yang asked, looking a little surprised.<br/><br/>“Sort of.” Weiss explained slowly. Even in her memories, she didn’t exactly know Qrow personally all that well as anything more than Ruby and Yang’s grumpy old uncle. Still, she knew she could count on him when it came down to what she had planned. Probably.<br/><br/>“So, what messages exactly are you carrying?” Yang enquired, sounding a little dubious. That was fair, Weiss conceded. There were times, back in <em>that place</em> when she’d thought it was all in her head as well.<br/><br/>Well, <em>technically </em>it was, but not in that way.<br/><br/>Weiss leaned back into the comforting embrace of the couch. She still wasn’t sure how exactly she should explain… <em>anything.</em><br/><br/>She remembered Ozpin, and what he’d done; the secrets he’d kept. How that had all ended, right up until Old Weiss’ memories just… stopped.<br/><br/>She didn’t like thinking of that - of her last memories. But she knew she couldn’t ignore how they’d gotten there; how they’d turned on each other.<br/><br/><em>No more secrets between allies. Not now. But I don’t know what to tell these two.</em><br/><br/>They weren’t the Ruby and Yang she remembered, but they were still Ruby and Yang. They were still people Weiss knew she could trust, no matter what. That was just who they were. She wasn’t ever going to forget that.<br/><br/>Besides, after six years of being told she was insane, it felt nice to speak to someone else.<br/><br/>Weiss wasn’t sure anything was ever going to really be alright again. But here, she felt safe. Safe enough to tell a little.<br/><br/>---<br/><br/>“<em>Clover. What do you have for me?”<br/><br/>“We’ve found her - had to comb through the dockyards network manually - her face wasn’t registering on the system, but she was there if you looked for her. Weiss Schnee was seen by one cluster of cameras in the civilian dock area two days ago. Looks like she snuck on a cargo flight, the… Sunset - heading to Patch to deliver an order of spare parts for agricultural vehicles.”<br/><br/>“Patch? That fits with the possibilities. We’ll let the authorities in Vale take the search from there, then.”<br/><br/>“What do you want us to do now, sir?”<br/><br/>“Keep the search going publicly in Atlas, at least for a few more days. It’s better for Weiss’ own protection that it not be known she’s left Atlas. Try to keep this information… discreet, if you could.”<br/><br/>“Understood, sir. We’ll wipe the surveillance files as soon as possible.”<br/><br/>“Very good.”</em><br/><br/>---<br/><br/>“<em>I’m from the future. Sort of,</em>” was not the answer Yang had been expecting when she’d asked the diminutive little Schnee what she'd wanted to talk to their Uncle about.<br/><br/>“Uh. What?” Ruby asked.<br/><br/>“The future. I’ve got memories from the future," Weiss mumbled, "Don’t know how or why, but I do.”<br/><br/>“Okay.... that’s… <em>not</em> what I was expecting you to say.” Yang said. It was a pretty ‘out there’ statement to make. She wasn’t going to say that Weiss was crazy, but…<br/><br/>Yeah, it was a fairly crazy thing to say.<br/><br/>“I’m not crazy.” Weiss started suddenly, glaring at them both with a sudden desperate anger, eyes widening once she'd realised Ruby and Yang had pulled back ever so slightly after her outburst. Then she seemed to deflate, and fell back, hugging her elbows.<br/><br/>“<em>I’m not crazy, I’m not crazy…” </em>Weiss continued to mutter, shutting her eyes tightly, before she seemed to come back to herself.<br/><br/>“Hey, I’m sorry.” Yang said, consciously aware now that Weiss had definitely been locked up with a bunch of doctors for six years. “I didn’t mean to be rude. It’s just a little...”<br/><br/>“It’s alright.“ Weiss huffed, rubbing at her glistening eyes. "I'm sorry for yelling."<br/><br/>"It's okay, Weiss." Ruby told her.<br/><br/>“I understand it’s hard to believe," Weiss went on with a strange, sad smirk, eyes fixed to the floor, stealing glances at the two girls every now and then, as if she didn’t quite believe they were real, "still, don’t be surprised when I turn out to be right. Don’t exactly care for keeping secrets.”<br/><br/>Yang and Ruby shared a nervous glance between each other. This girl was messed up, and it didn’t look like going to an Atlas Mental Institution had helped her all that much.<br/><br/>“So… how’s the future?” Yang asked awkwardly.<br/><br/>Weiss went quiet. She closed her eyes for a moment, before looking at the two of them with a quivering smile.<br/><br/>“Great. It was great… in so many ways…” She said, before looking back to the floor.<br/><br/>Well, that was <em>encouraging.</em><br/><br/>“Probably shouldn’t say much more. Your Uncle’s probably going to be annoyed I told you anything, but y’know what, I don’t care. You’re the first people I’ve properly met in six years who weren’t fellow patients, doctors, or people I’ve saved from the White Fang, and I didn’t exactly have time to chat with them.”<br/><br/>“You’ve fought the White Fang?” Yang asked. Slightly easier to believe than the whole ‘time travel’ thing, to be honest.<br/><br/>“I wouldn’t say ‘<em>fought’</em>. All I did was use my Semblance to scare them off. That's how I got my… hey, where’s my knife?”<br/><br/>Ruby snorted. “That thing? It’s over there. Not sure if you’d want to keep it. It’s kinda… bad.”<br/><br/>“It’s a perfectly good knife.” Weiss said. Yang could tell her heart wasn’t in defending the weapon. It just wasn’t good. At all. It looked like it’d break after one fight. Still, it did sort of prove that at least some of what the girl was saying might not have been completely delusional.<br/><br/>“You can do better, Weiss. So much better. I mean… just <em>look</em> at it!” Ruby squeaked, gesturing past the couch to the door, where the weapon Weiss had carried rested.<br/><br/>“I suppose your weapon’s so much cooler.” Weiss spoke quietly as she smiled faintly in Ruby's direction.<br/><br/>“Uh… <em>not yet, but eventually!</em> I’ve got it all planned out - it’s gonna be a cool scythe, just like my Uncle’s," Ruby told her, "And it’s gonna have a gun of… some kind! Your knife’s just a lump of metal.”<br/><br/>Yang smirked at Ruby’s enthusiasm. Ruby had been a little disappointed that Weiss didn’t have some sort of cool Schnee Dust weapon instead of the dull old blade she’d had on her, even if she was still absolutely enthralled by the girl and the mystery of how she was here.<br/><br/>Ruby had always been in a bit of a weapons phase - one that wasn’t really a phase anymore so much as a general obsession, since she’d been a small or, well, smaller girl. Her bedroom was littered with firearms manuals and Dust catalogues. It really wasn’t a surprise that she’d ended up going to Signal Academy as well as Yang. Ruby wanted to be a Huntress more than anything. She was eagerly awaiting the day she was old enough to start properly designing a weapon for herself.<br/><br/>Weiss snorted. “I guess I could do better.”<br/><br/>Weiss’ smile seemed to freeze for a moment, and her eyes glistened. It seemed to take Weiss a few moments to realise she’d been spacing out again.<br/><br/>“Uh… Weiss?” Yang asked. “You… good?”<br/><br/>Weiss blinked, looking around the room again, nodding to herself.<br/><br/>“Oh, don’t mind me. Just… had a lot of time thinking to myself, these past few years. Lots of… old memories. Some of them… less than good.” Weiss went on.<br/><br/>Yang frowned. Whatever they’d been doing where she’d been to ‘help’ her didn’t seem to have helped her at all. With her stories of time travel, Yang admitted, the girl probably was a little crazy. But it didn’t seem like she wanted to hurt anyone. She just seemed like… a person.<br/><br/>“Well, is there anything else you want to talk about?” Ruby asked, shrugging. “Sometimes, if something’s got me down, I try thinking of something else - is there anything else that makes you happy?”<br/><br/>The look that Weiss sent at Ruby after that was the saddest of all.<br/><br/>---<br/><br/><b>Forever Fall, Kingdom of Vale</b><br/><br/>Adam had told Blake that tonight’s meeting would be a significant one for the future of the White Fang. She hadn’t realised just what that had meant, before they’d taken the covert route to one of the White Fang’s bunkers - a deep, hidden sanctuary where they stored munitions and lay in wait for new missions.<br/><br/>The bunker was far more populated than usual - the hidden hangars filled with recently arrived aircraft. As she and Adam walked through the cramped halls of the complex, she recognised the banners strewn up across the walls and heard the newcomers talk amongst themselves. There had to be visitors from a dozen other cells present tonight.<br/><br/>She’d been surprised that Adam had allowed her to accompany him. She was still only a novice fighter, after all, and her name wasn’t a popular one. But Adam trusted her, she knew with a warm certainty in her heart. She was honoured to stand alongside him before the leaders of the White Fang.<br/><br/>By the time they’d made it to the meeting hall, the proceedings had already begun.<br/><br/>All of the regional commanders were present, masked and hooded in the markings of their own cells and orders. Vacuans, Mistrali, Vale, and even one of the Atlesians who still dared to fight for freedom in Solitas.<br/><br/>High Leader Sienna Khan had flown in discreetly from Mistral, and she sat at the centre of the proceedings, flanked by some of the Fang’s most elite warriors as protectors.<br/><br/>It was a big risk, concentrating so many of the cause’s best and brightest in one place, but it was equally dangerous to risk transmitting information internationally through the CCT network. Atlesian eyes were everywhere, especially considering the topic of tonight’s meeting.<br/><br/>A single member was the focus of it all - kneeling before all in the room as he relayed his story.<br/><br/>“The escaped Schnee girl? Are you sure?” One of the Mistrali officers asked, leaning over the table towards the kneeling officer with a curious tilt to her head.<br/><br/>Blake was surprised to hear the matter at hand - she’d heard vaguely of Weiss Schnee even before her face was all over the news. But she’d hardly been considered someone of importance to the Fang, other than as another symbol of that family’s callousness.<br/><br/>“Yes. I’m certain, Leader. She had the look. Seeing the image they’ve been putting on the news confirmed it. She’s older than in the picture, but it’s definitely her.” The officer confirmed. Blake could tell he was struggling to retain composure beneath the eyes of dozens of superiors.<br/><br/>His name was Veridian - from one of the White Fang cells who specialised in aerial operations. Blake had only met him a few times when Adam’s group had found themselves needing a quick ride out in a bullhead. She’d never liked him all that much. All bluster and nothing to back it up, as far as she’d been concerned; a braggart and a bully.<br/><br/>“Why did you not seize her at once? You had twenty warriors alongside you, armed and dedicated to the cause. She’s a <em>child.” </em>One of the Menagerie commanders wondered.<br/><br/>“With respect, Commander, you weren’t there. She had a… I don’t know how to describe it. A... spectral giant, somehow - it came right out of the airship, and seemed to follow her commands. My men were outmatched. I felt returning and relaying the story was the wiser choice-”<br/><br/>“Are we supposed to find this little tale credible?” The murmuring of the room grew as one of the Mistrali scoffed.<br/><br/>“Summoning <em>is</em> an aspect of the Schnee Semblance.” A hooded figure commented. One of the Vacuans, but Blake didn’t recognise him.<br/><br/><em>“Are we to waste our time chasing rumours and fables?” </em>Another shout went out.<br/><br/>The room looked set to descend into chaos and debate. Already the commanders had made their decisions and the room grew louder as the bickering grew more intense. Blake felt distinctly uncomfortable - this was the part of the cause she’d never cared for - the bickering. They were supposed to all be on the same side, but sometimes, she couldn’t help but feel how quickly some of the Fang’s members were to reach for their swords. Many commanders had grown prideful of their own positions, hoarding power and cooperating only as much as they had to.<br/><br/>The room fell silent as High Leader Khan raised a hand.<br/><br/>“A Schnee... Young, weak, alone, and so close to our grasp…” Sienna Khan began, standing from her throne and looking over all the assembled members. Her eyes settled on Adam. The look on her face was a hungry one.<br/><br/>---<br/><br/><em>"So, know any board games?"<br/><br/>"Not sure... D'you have Remnant: The Game?"<br/><br/>"Sure do! Prepare to get schooled, Schnee. I happen to be a master at that game."<br/><br/>"Y'mean when I'm not there, Rubes?"<br/><br/>"You're gonna be eating those words in a second, sis!"<br/><br/>"That's what you said last time."</em><br/><br/>---<br/><br/><b>Patch, Kingdom of Vale</b><br/><br/>Taiyang was having a good day, all in all. Weather was fine for the season, nothing in the house was falling apart, and he’d finally saved up enough of those coupons to get a discount at the store in town.<br/><br/>They were most definitely not going to be running out of coffee any time soon.<br/><br/>Sure, Qrow had made that strange, cryptic call a few days ago because for some reason his old team member thought he had to worry about an escaped Atlesian mental patient half the world away, but nothing had come of that since he’d called, which was just fine by Taiyang.<br/><br/>So, when he pulled in and parked by the house, whistling to himself as he carried the bags out of the car, he expected everything at home to be just as he’d found it. His two girls were safe and sound in Patch.<br/><br/><em>You did remember the dog food this time, right, Tai?</em><br/><br/>Hesitantly, Taiyang reached into one of the bags, sighing happily as he felt the familiar shape of Zwei’s favoured brand of canned food.<br/><br/>Today was <em>really</em> going well for him.<br/><br/>He heard the voices when he’d just managed to get to the front door.<br/><br/><em>“Gravity Dust is good in a fight, but you don’t want to go using it unless you’re really sure about how to use it.” </em>An unfamiliar voice sounded from the other side of the door.<br/><br/>Well, that was weird. He didn’t know they were having anyone around, today. Besides, Yang might have had a lot of friends, but he was fairly sure he recognised most of their voices. This wasn’t one of them.<br/><br/>Fumbling through his pockets for his keys, he couldn’t help but take a peak through the front window.<br/><br/>There was a girl in the house. Taiyang didn’t recognise her. She was sat on the couch, talking with his daughters. She was covered in sheets, like she’d been sleeping there.<br/><br/>Still, there was something familiar about her. Something-<br/><br/><em>Wait a minute…</em><br/><br/>Taiyang slightly more frantically fished for his keys, which wasn’t necessarily easy when you were carrying four bags of groceries.<br/><br/>“Oh, definitely! I saw this girl on the last Vytal Festival, and she had Gravity Dust in her boots, and she accidentally activated it and went flying into her other team member! You really do have to be careful with that stuff.” Ruby was saying, going on about Dust and guns with her usual enthusiasm.<br/><br/>“Yeah. I think I’m gonna just stick to Burn dust for mine once they’re all ready. Just got a few more design quirks to work out and I’ll finally be able to use ‘em.” Yang beamed, sitting atop the arm of their couch.<br/><br/>“I can’t wait to see you bring your weapons home, Yang! Even if I’ve got to wait another two years before I make mine, it’s gonna be so cool!”<br/><br/>Finally picking out the right key, Tai opened the door and walked in.<br/><br/>“Huh.” Taiyang muttered, a little dumbstruck.<br/><br/>“Oh, hey Dad! This is Weiss! She kinda fell unconscious at our door.” Ruby said, gesturing to the girl sat on their couch. An abandoned board game sat on the coffee table, and Zwei sat between the two girls, belly looking well-scratched.<br/><br/>Weiss Schnee. <em>The</em> Weiss Schnee, escaped mental patient and international news story, waved nervously at him.<br/><br/>“Hi?” She said quietly.<br/><br/>“Huh. Qrow was right about something.” Tai muttered to himself, looking over the scene.<br/><br/>Ruby’s eyes narrowed at that. She didn’t much like Tai’s tendency to badmouth her drunken loudmouth of an Uncle, especially since she’d gone all out on the scythe obsession. Still, she didn’t get much of a chance to challenge Tai’s little comment, because Weiss started talking.<br/><br/>“Qrow knew I was coming? Oh, good. He knows I’m- <em>wait,</em> how did he know I was coming here?” The kid began, seeming to flash between several different emotions at once, frustration being a key one.<br/><br/>“Hey, don’t shoot the messenger, kid.” Taiyang spluttered, still trying to get over the whole ‘<em>Weiss Schnee is in my living room for some reason</em>’ issue. “All I got told is that you might show up.”<br/><br/>---<br/><br/>Yang walked over to him while he packed everything up in the kitchen. Ruby and Weiss were still talking in the living room, seeming to get along. Taiyang was a little conflicted on that really. On the one hand, Ruby finding friends was something he was always happy about. On the other hand, <em>this </em>really wasn’t what he’d been thinking of.<br/><br/>Still, as far as he could tell they'd done a good job of looking after Weiss' wounds. She'd probably be alright with a few more hours left to heal.<br/><br/>“Should I be worried?” Tai asked Yang quietly.<br/><br/>“Relax, Dad. She’s fine," Yang assured him, "She was in bad shape when she came in, but I think she’s… mostly okay for now.”<br/><br/>Tai chuckled. “I was talking about you guys.”<br/><br/>“Weiss isn't a problem, I don’t think. All she wants is to talk to Uncle Qrow, and if he wants to talk to her, I don’t think she’s crazy. Well, not completely crazy.”<br/><br/>“Well, I’ll make the call, soon as all this is in.” He said, gesturing to his bags.<br/><br/>Yang looked at him with a sudden thoughtful gaze, arms crossed as she glanced between him and the bags; it was the expression he'd internally labeled as her 'mom' look, when 'Yang the teenager' switched out for 'Yang the only sane person in the house.'<br/><br/>She'd gotten pretty used to making sure they all had what they needed in the house when she wasn't taking care of things herself. He hadn't been around in the same way a few years back, but Yang had always done her best to step up and look out for her sister. He was proud of her for that, even if he hated that she'd needed it.</p><p>“Hey, Dad," Yang asked him in that suspicious tone that was the reason he always wrote a shopping list these days, "You did remember to get the dog food this time, right?”<br/><br/>“Who do you think you’re dealing with here, little dragon?" Taiyang scoffed with a nervous grin, "I’m the reigning champion of remembering the dog food.”</p><p> </p>
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<a name="section0005"><h2>5. 1.5 - Ice, Part Five</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p><b>Forever Fall, Kingdom of Vale</b><br/><br/>High Leader Khan sat herself back atop her throne.<br/><br/>“This girl is far away from the security of Atlas and the protection of her father's company.” She continued, and the room hung on her every word.<br/><br/>“Adam." She decreed, glancing towards the masked bull Faunus with an eager smirk. "You’ve always been our boldest hunter. Find the girl, and bring her back to us. A live Schnee will be a valuable bargaining chip for the cause.”<br/><br/>Adam grinned, and Blake smiled with him. It was another honour for the warrior whose rising influence had earned him increasing favour from the High Leader.<br/><br/>Blake thought it could only be good for him. So often, he was forced to use violence she found excessive, all because of humans unwilling to yield. A mission requiring the disciplined use of force might help him focus. Maybe there wouldn’t be so many accidents in the future if he could succeed here.<br/><br/>He knelt before Khan’s throne, bowing his head. “I am honoured, High Leader.”<br/><br/>“Just bring back the girl, Taurus." One of the other Vale commanders standing alongside Khan hissed. "We won’t have this ruined by your theatrics.”<br/><br/>Blake scowled amongst the crowd. She felt other voices beginning to grumble. There were many inside Vale who didn’t care for Adam’s successes for the Faunus, but they were matched by those who felt he represented the future of the movement.<br/><br/>Khan raised a placating arm. The room fell silent once more as she looked down at Adam.<br/><br/>“Choose from among our best. This is a mission that cannot fail - an opportunity like this may never come again.”<br/><br/>Khan turned back to the crowd, her voice filling the hall. It was moments like this that reminded all why Sienna Khan was master of the White Fang, the symbol of their cause.<br/><br/>“Weiss Schnee will be ours, and I assure you, brothers and sisters, we will make the humans pay a heavy price to return her!” She cried out, as the room burst into cheers, Blake among them.<br/><br/>She just hoped this went well. That nothing… accidentally went wrong. They’d be trying to take the Schnee alive, Blake told herself. If all went well, so much could be achieved for the White Fang - for all Faunus, and all without bloodshed.<br/><br/>---<br/><br/><b>Patch, Kingdom of Vale</b><br/><br/>Uncle Qrow had come quickly once Dad had called. They’d explained how Weiss had gotten there, so fortunately he’d come prepared, with a bag full of clothes that weren’t completely tattered.<br/><br/>Before long, Weiss was wrapped up in a thick jumper, her hair hidden under a hood. Hopefully it’d keep her warm once she left.<br/><br/>Qrow had said hello to everyone, but Yang definitely got the impression that he was in a hurry, and Weiss had been quiet, well, quieter than she’d been, muttering to herself in the corner while Qrow spoke with his nieces.<br/><br/>The only thing he’d been sure to establish with the lot of them was that they were to keep any information that Weiss had been there quiet. Ruby’s eyes had lit up, asking if this really was some kind of super secret Huntsman thing.<br/><br/>Weiss had just offered a loud ‘no comment’ which seemed to only inflame Yang’s sister’s curiosity.<br/><br/>Eventually the pair were going, and now Yang and Ruby stood saying goodbye to the strange girl who’d fallen unconscious on their doorstep.<br/><br/>“Uh... bye, I guess.” Ruby chuckled nervously. Weiss looked back at the girl wistfully. The words seemed difficult for her.<br/><br/>“Good luck with building that scythe one day, Ruby. I’m sure it’s going to be awesome.” Weiss said, eventually, with that sad smile she’d worn most of the day.<br/><br/>Ruby nodded, and pulled back, retreating back into the relative warmth of the doorstep.<br/><br/>Now, Weiss looked over at Yang.<br/><br/>“Well, sorry for going through all of your soup.” The white-haired girl chuckled.<br/><br/>“Eh, today was probably going to be boring anyway, until you showed up.” Yang said with a grin.<br/><br/>“See you around, Weiss.” Yang told her.<br/><br/>“Thanks, Yang. I…” The girl seemed to struggle once again to find the words for a moment.<br/><br/>“Good luck.” Weiss told her, and then she turned and left.<br/><br/>Yang knew full well that the chances Weiss really was just crazy weren’t the kind you ignored. Still, she couldn’t help but feel something had been there in the looks Weiss had given her and Ruby, the way she’d spoken. She hadn’t said anything, but Yang couldn’t help but feel that they’d been the reason Weiss had looked so sad.<br/><br/>She hoped the girl would be alright.<br/><br/>---<br/><br/><b>Forever Fall, Kingdom of Vale.</b><br/><br/>Adam had found her after the meeting. She’d been surprised - Blake was expecting him to be busy readying his team for the mission ahead. But somehow, as ever, he always found time for her.<br/><br/>That was when he made the offer; asked her to join him for the search for Weiss Schnee.<br/><br/>“Adam, I- I don’t know what to say.” Blake said. It might have been the most important mission the White Fang had undertaken in years. She’d been happy for him when the High Leader had chosen him to lead it, but she hadn’t expected him to ask her.<br/><br/>She wasn’t anything worth considering.<br/><br/>“A ‘yes’ would be perfect.” Adam grinned from beneath his mask.<br/><br/>“I’m not the best fighter in your cell, and certainly not in the White Fang," Blake said, "There are others-”<br/><br/>“You’re learning, though. And I trust you. Which is more than I can say for some of the others that I could choose.” Adam assured her.<br/><br/>Blake nodded. There were others who Blake wouldn’t be surprised at if they tried to sabotage this out of spite.<br/><br/>Still, she felt hesitant. She didn’t feel ready. She didn’t want to mess things up for him.<br/><br/>“It’s just… I don’t know…” Blake muttered.<br/><br/>Adam’s smirk turned into a scowl. “I’m trying to help you, Blake. Don’t you want to prove yourself? Escape the shadow of your parents’ cowardice?”<br/><br/>Bile rose in Blake’s throat. She was not like those - those <em>cowards! </em>She cared about the Faunus! Hadn’t she proven that already? Hadn’t she already given everything she had? She’d been with the Fang for years. She’d fought and bled for its new direction alongside Adam.<br/><br/>She looked over at Adam, and all protest died in her throat. He wasn't her enemy. No matter what, she knew that.<br/><br/>“I… I want to help. I’m loyal. I am.” Blake said, her voice a quiet whisper.<br/><br/>“I believe in you, Blake. But there are others in the Fang who doubt you and your commitment to justice.” Adam told her.<br/><br/>“I’ve already done so much for the cause...” Blake whispered. She was tired of being mistrusted.<br/><br/>Adam cupped her cheek. Her eyes met his mask. She looked down shamefully.<br/><br/>How could she go on about sacrifices when he had already given so much more…<br/><br/>“Then keep going, Blake. Show them your loyalty with your actions.”<br/><br/>Blake sighed, looking up at Adam. He was so good, showing trust in her. He'd looked out for her, now that she was alone. She didn’t feel she deserved it, sometimes.<br/><br/>He smiled at her. Blake looked away, trying not to blush.<br/><br/>“Alright... Alright. I accept, Adam. I promise I won’t let you down.” She said, looking back with a nervous smile.<br/><br/>Adam grinned, placing a firm hand on Blake’s shoulder.<br/><br/>“Thank you, Blake. It’s good to have you beside me. We can do great things together, Blake. Just follow my lead.”<br/><br/>---<br/><br/><b>Patch, Kingdom of Vale</b><br/><br/>Qrow had to admit, he’d been a <em>little </em>dubious of James’ little time travel theory. Sure, the evidence stacked up, but it was still pretty crazy.<br/><br/>Yet here Weiss Schnee was, sat next to him in the front of the car, having sniffed out the Xiao Long home like a homing pigeon.<br/><br/>“So… time travel.” Qrow began, trying his best to keep his eyes on the road. He was certified, but he’d never been keen on driving. So many little things that could go wrong if you weren't lucky, and every second he spent on the road was one more second someone could get hurt because of him. Still, it was the quickest and least obvious way of getting the kid out of Patch. Walking would have just attracted more attention. <br/><br/>“Yep.” Weiss muttered. Well, that confirmed it, he supposed. “Don’t ask how. I don’t remember.”<br/><br/>Qrow nodded. Well, that meant James was probably right, but it didn’t hurt to keep asking questions.<br/><br/>“Alright… I’d say I’m almost convinced, based on what I’ve seen already, but… you got any proof?”<br/><br/>Weiss looked at him, an idea seeming to come to her.<br/><br/>“Misfortune. Your Semblance. It brings misfortune.” She muttered.<br/><br/>“Neat parlour trick.” Qrow sighed, frowning. Guess he’d been asking for that. It was some pretty good proof, he supposed.<br/><br/>He wondered how the kid had found out in whatever future she remembered. He didn’t much care for working with others. Something bad must have happened to mean he had to tell someone about his… issues.<br/><br/>“What do you remember, then?” He asked after a moment.<br/><br/>Weiss was quiet again for a little while, seeming to think over her words.<br/><br/>“The next… four-ish years.”<br/><br/>“That little?” Qrow said, looking over at the girl for a moment.<br/><br/>“A lot happens in the next four years, a lot of it bad. I’ll save the lengthy summary for when you get me to Ozpin. I’m not sure I’ve got the energy to tell it all twice in one day...”<br/><br/>The drive was filled once more with awkward silence.<br/><br/><em>Come on Qrow, say something to lighten the mood. This is getting awkward.</em><br/><br/>“So, you’re what? Some kind of creepy adult in a child’s body with knowledge of the future?” Qrow asked, wincing already at the comment.<br/><br/>Weiss chuckled quietly. “Didn’t exactly work out like that. I’m still me. Still the Weiss who lived a normal life until she was eight. I just… woke up one day with a head full of memories that were mine, but they also weren’t.”<br/><br/>“Ah, so you’re just a creepy <em>child</em> with knowledge of the future.” He said. She didn’t laugh. She just… stared ahead.<br/><br/><em>Alright, Qrow, no more jokes. Read the room, jackass.</em><br/><br/>Most of the rest of the drive was quiet. Eventually, they reached the beginnings of the town containing the airport. The flight to Vale wouldn’t take too long. Soon they’d be at Beacon.<br/><br/><em>If the traffic ever lets up.</em><br/><br/>Qrow grit his teeth at the sight of a lengthy traffic jam, resisting the urge to slam the horn.<br/><br/>“Y’know,” Qrow started, “Ironwood visited your, uh, institute the day you went on the run.”<br/><br/>Weiss chuckled at that.<br/><br/>“Well, I’m sorry I couldn’t adhere my escape plan to General Ironwood’s itinerary.” She muttered. That drew a chuckle from Qrow.<br/><br/><em>Huh, not exactly sounding like Ironwood’s biggest fan. Something’s going on there.</em><br/><br/>In fairness, Qrow understood the feeling well.<br/><br/>“I suppose you probably wouldn’t have got out even if he did find you.” Qrow conceded.<br/><br/>Jacques Schnee had, after all, sunk a lot of money into keeping her locked up nice and quiet. That did bother him a little, actually. He’d never had a good opinion of Jacques Schnee - but the man undeniably valued his reputation. Throwing his daughter in a madhouse hadn’t been good for it.<br/><br/>“How’d you, uh, wind up in that place, anyway? Schnee did a good job making sure the real story never got out.” He asked.<br/><br/>Weiss remained quiet for a moment. A quick glance from Qrow let him see how she was looking vacantly out the window. He’d been about to say something when he just about heard the girl mumbling.<br/><br/>“<em>I know, Blake. I shouldn’t blame myself. I know...” </em>Weiss whispered to herself, scratching at the fabric of the car seat.<br/><br/>Okay. He wasn’t gonna touch that one with a ten foot pole. He was not remotely qualified for that sort of conversation.<br/><br/>Eventually, Weiss seemed to come back to herself, and looked over at Qrow.<br/><br/>“Let’s just say I made a mistake. I wasted… <em>so much time...</em> because I was afraid. Because I panicked. I won’t let that happen again.” Weiss said. “I don’t really want to talk about it more than that. I’ve had a lot of time to think about what happened. I’m trying to move past it.”<br/><br/>Qrow sighed. What did anyone say to that? He’d never been good with kids other than his nieces, and even that, Qrow suspected, was a little because Ruby was kind of a weird kid, in a good way.<br/><br/>Fortunately, the traffic started to clear up, so he didn’t have to say anything.<br/><br/>“Well, we’ll be in Beacon soon, kid.” He muttered.<br/><br/>A strange grin came over Weiss at that moment.<br/><br/>“Don’t look so glum, Qrow. We’ve got places to be. Battles to win. Things aren’t all that bad.” She told him, though he couldn’t help but feel she was telling herself that at the same time.<br/><br/><em>Once again. Ten foot pole. Not touching that.</em><br/><br/>Ozpin really needed to hire a psychologist one day.<br/><br/>---<br/><br/><em>“Qrow’s called in. He tells me that they’ve just boarded the airship to Beacon. According to the schedule, they should be perhaps forty minutes away from landing.”<br/><br/>“Good, good. I expect to arrive within the hour. Then we can start sorting this all out.”<br/><br/>“You seem quite certain of your theory, James. I ask you to be cautious. In all my long years, I’m afraid that I’ve never come across time travel as a serious notion, through magic or by more mundane means. It certainly would have been useful, once upon a time, but still, I think it would be wise to… temper our expectations.”<br/><br/>“I know, Oz. It’s just… the possibilities are… haunting. It’s been exhausting, thinking how easily we could have lost her.”<br/><br/>“Well, you can relax now, James. Whatever she knows, Weiss Schnee will be more than safe at Beacon.”</em><br/><br/>---<br/><br/><b>Dockyard District, City of Vale</b><br/><br/>They were all sat in a cramped safehouse in the Vale docks, readying what they have. It had taken a while to gather the necessary materials and weaponry, but now they waited. They were prepared to fight, but before they could hunt Weiss Schnee, they had to find her.<br/><br/>Vale was abuzz with rumours, and White Fang agents were in place to investigate every single one.<br/><br/>In the meantime, when Blake wasn’t accompanying Adam, she had the dubious pleasures of interacting with the… eclectic mix of warriors who’d been chosen to hunt Weiss Schnee, picked out from the mix of warriors who’d met in the bunker, brought in from White Fang units across the world.<br/><br/>Most of them kept to themselves, speaking only with the members from their own units, or to no one at all. Unfortunately, the remainder of the members from Vale weren’t exactly chatty, so Blake sat alone, nursing a cup of tea as she looked over the assembled crew.<br/><br/>Arkaitz she knew - the brute warrior, one of Adam’s trusted lieutenants. He’d always proven good enough in a fight, but she’d never found him all that talkative out of missions. Still, he could be trusted, Blake thought, which was more than could be said than some of the others. Right now, he sat, humming to himself as he cleaned the machinery of the bulky chainsaw he used.<br/><br/>The other from Vale was more unfamiliar to her - a Faunus called Flaka. Apparently, he’d spent most of his career organising breakouts of White Fang members from prisons. Currently, he was deeply immersed in the somewhat concerning activity of readying a cluster of dust shells, filled with Ice Dust. Besides him sat his weapon, some kind of grenade launcher-hammer hybrid.<br/><br/>Ione was an unknown - one of the Vacuans, garbed in a hooded coat shaded in a rich Vacuan purple, and allegedly an expert tracker. She was a bird faunus of some kind, her hair filled with feathers and her feet clawed. She carried a bow, the arrows in her quiver faintly glowing with a variety of shades of Dust. She kept to herself, generally, and was presently familiarising herself with a map of Vale.<br/><br/>The sole Mistrali present was a spider Faunus, Izar - a sniper of some description whose Semblance was apparently uniquely suited to her job. She hung unsettlingly from the ceiling, napping in a hammock made from her own silk. She’d barely said a word since she’d been picked out by Adam to join the group.<br/><br/>The others were called Ilia and Iah, both from Menagerie. Ilia she knew - they’d spent years together accompanying the White Fang’s leadership in protests across the world, before the Fang’s shift in direction had only seen them meet sparingly.<br/><br/>“It’s good to see you again, Ilia.” Blake greeted her. She meant it. Ilia had always been kind to her. She’d never doubted her commitment to the Fang, even after Blake’s parents had done what they did and quit the cause.<br/><br/>The chameleon Faunus smiled. “It’s been a while, Blake.” She said, nervously eyeing the other Menagerie member behind her.<br/><br/>Iah lay in the corner, seeming to be sleeping soundly, though with a mask that obscured his face, Blake couldn’t really tell if he were awake or asleep. His weapon, a long polearm of some kind imbued with Dust crystals, lay across his lap. He wore the hooded robes of some of the Menagerie White Fang’s more… devoted members, the inheritors of a long history of Faunus asceticism, discipline, and mastering the art of being downright unsettling to talk to. Blake doubted he was much of a conversationalist.<br/><br/>Blake led Ilia back to one of the chairs, sitting next to her old friend.<br/><br/>“Thanks for rescuing me. He’s… a little unstable, that one. Competent, but unstable.” Ilia whispered with a faint smile.<br/><br/>“I’m not sure any of the others are much better.” Blake offered a rare chuckle. It was good, speaking with someone like this. Adam was good to her, but she did feel a little… alone, sometimes. These days, books were her most frequent companions.<br/><br/>“Heard that!” Flaka burst out, suddenly, laughing to himself. “Trust me, kid. If you were in my line of work, you’d know that you don’t wanna get into too many conversations while you’re uh… working. This is the kinda job that takes focus.” The Faunus said, fitting shells into a bandolier.<br/><br/>Above them, Izar moaned gently. “I was sleeping, <em>asshole</em>. Keep it down.”<br/><br/>“Are you sure bombs are a good idea?” Blake asked nervously, keeping her voice quiet to avoid the ire of the napping sniper. They were just going to take Weiss Schnee alive, if they found her at all. Blake didn’t see how they could be used. Wherever she was, it was bound to be in range of the public, and a loud impression in the middle of Vale or even Patch was only going to bring Huntsmen coming all the more quickly.<br/><br/>Ilia nodded with Blake. “I’m not exactly sure how ‘stealthy kidnapping’ and ‘bring a bombardier’ go together. Adam must have a plan, of course, but…” She wondered quietly.<br/><br/>Flaka chuckled, a little quieter, this time, tapping the shell casings gently. “These ones won’t kill. Just lock her up, nice and still. ‘Sides… You always want to be prepped for emergencies. Never know when you need to make a quick exit. That’s why I’ve got these.” Flaka pointed to a pack of shells, glowing gently with the telltale shade of Burn dust.<br/><br/>“Just make sure you don’t hurt anyone with those.” Blake told him.<br/><br/>“Oh, sure, sure, Belladonna. Never any bloodshed when Taurus leads an op.” Flaka replied, his voice a subdued cackle.<br/><br/>“That’s different.” Blake assured him.<br/><br/>Flaka looked over to her. He didn’t say anything, but she couldn’t help but feel that he was grinning from behind his mask.<br/><br/>Blake scowled back at him. That… that was different. Humans forced Adam to use violence. Sometimes he got a little carried away, but… It was different. It <em>was.</em><br/><br/>The White Fang was better than that, Blake told herself, as she sat back, and ignored the chuckling bomber.<br/><br/>---<br/><br/><b>Industrial District, City of Vale</b><br/><br/>“Hei Xiong.” An unfamiliar voice rang out through the empty club. “But I’m told you prefer ‘Junior’, these days.”<br/><br/>“Bar’s closed.” The owner called out to the newcomer, as he cleaned up the bar. He’d have got others to do it - that is what he pays them for, but he knew the idiots were probably so drunk at this point they’d just add to the puke instead of cleaning it up.<br/><br/>He really needed to look into getting some better people. It’d been a busy night, bringing good money from all sorts of customers, but sometimes he couldn’t help but feel he was the only one working in the place with a functioning brain.<br/><br/>“That’s alright, I’m not looking for a drink.” The newcomer said with the easy tone of someone who wanted trouble, and as Junior got a look at him, he immediately stiffened.<br/><br/>Quickly, the club owner and information broker frantically shook his head at the few of his people still conscious in the club.<br/><br/><em>Not worth it, you idiots. Do not get me killed by picking a fight with this guy.</em><br/><br/>The lot of them hurriedly returned to sweeping up, trying their best to look harmless.<br/><br/><em>As if these idiots need to try.</em><br/><br/>The guy was White Fang, going by the mask and the horns, not to mention the way he carried himself. Young, cocky, hand on the hilt of a sword. Lazily, the masked Faunus grabbed a chair and sat down.<br/><br/>“I don’t want any trouble.” Junior greets the man carefully. He felt for the handle of his weapon beneath the bar, all the same.<br/><br/>“Not looking for that, either, human. Not here, anyway. Right now, you can be useful to me.” The Faunus’ grin was razor sharp as he reached for something in his pocket.<br/><br/>Junior sighed. Business, then. That was better. Easier to deal with than his bar getting trashed.<br/><br/>“What do you want to know?”<br/><br/>“You know people who know people who know people... I’d like these people to find someone for me.” The masked man tossed a picture in his direction.<br/><br/>Junior scoffed at the sight, but pocketed the picture all the same, taking a quick look before. The photo was instantly recognisable. It was on every news network these days, after all.<br/><br/>“You’re joking.” Junior muttered.<br/><br/>“I don’t joke with your kind, human.” The Faunus scowled back, hands still tight on that weapon.<br/><br/>The Faunus wanted him to see the weapon. See he could use it in a moment’s notice. Junior knew full well what he was saying.<br/><br/><em>Come on, human. Give me a reason.</em><br/><br/>Still, Junior couldn’t help but be a little surprised, and curious at the same time. They were in the wrong Kingdom to look for Weiss Schnee. Unless, of course, they knew something that he didn’t.<br/><br/>“Uh… alright. I can see what we can find. It’ll cost you, though.”<br/><br/>“Of course. I trust this’ll be enough.” The Faunus said, standing and walking up to the bar. He plopped the briefcase in front of Junior on the bar - along with his sword, clutched tightly in his hand.<br/><br/>Junior barely bothered counting the money as the Faunus opened it, nodding hurriedly at the sight of the briefcase full of Lien.<br/><br/>“Oh, yeah. Sure. Sure. That’s - that’s fine.” Junior muttered, trying his best to keep his voice even. It probably wasn’t as much as he’d usually charge - especially not for a Schnee of all people, but on the other hand, he also considered life to be a very good experience that he’d rather not end early.<br/><br/>“Glad we could do business, human. Call this number if you find anything.” The Faunus grinned, dropping a slip of paper on the bar, before turning and leaving with the case of cash.<br/><br/>Junior sighed deeply as the stranger left, quickly reaching for a swig of the first thing he could reach for on the shelf. Maybe early retirement was a good idea, if the White Fang were going to keep sending that guy to do business.<br/><br/>---<br/><br/><b>Beacon Academy, Kingdom of Vale</b><br/><br/>The ride to Vale and Beacon had been uneventful. Qrow had asked questions, cracked some bad jokes. She could tell he was starting to get nervous at her answers.<br/><br/>Leaving Patch behind, Weiss couldn’t help but feel a little better than she’d been. This was what she’d been hoping for, after all. This was the moment she could really start helping people.<br/><br/>She felt a smile at the sight of Beacon Academy, even taking the quiet entrance Qrow led her through, away from the bustle of the school. The school might have presently been on break, but it was still bustling with students who remained there - none Weiss recognised, mainly - apart from a few who she thought might have been fourth-years in the time she remembered.<br/><br/>Still, soon enough, they were in the elevator of the CCT Tower, ready to meet at last with the man in charge. It was strange. Being back at Beacon, and at the same time being there for the first time. It was like a dream come to life, and Weiss wasn't quite sure how she felt about it. It was home, but it had nothing there that had made it home. They weren't here.<br/><br/>“Good afternoon, Miss Schnee.” Ozpin greeted her warmly as she entered, as casually as he would any guest in his office. "I'm glad to see you're well."<br/><br/>She couldn’t help but gawk a little at the sight. Even in her memories, Ozpin had been dead for over a year by the end, and what remained of him in Oscar hadn’t…<br/><br/>Well, it hadn’t gone well. It was unusual - seeing him alive and well, Beacon tower intact, everything as it had been.<br/><br/>She glanced about the office - at the clockwork mechanisms, the brass doors and the wide glass windows that gave Ozpin a magnificent view of Beacon and Vale in the distance.<br/><br/>This… this had been the room where Pyrrha-<br/><br/><em>No, don’t think about that. Pyrrha’s alive. You can stop that from happening. Stay calm.</em><br/><br/>Weiss stopped for a moment, taking another breath. Ozpin seemed to notice a little of her hesitancy as she looked at him. A curious look passed over his own features, even as he gestured to a chair for her to sit in.<br/><br/>“Hello, Headmaster. It’s been… a long time.” Weiss greeted the Headmaster carefully.<br/><br/>Ozpin looked curiously at her, but accepted what was for him a strange greeting from someone he’d never met. She supposed Ironwood had explained his theory already.<br/><br/>“Would you care for some refreshment? I’m given to understand you’ve been on quite a journey.” The Headmaster offered politely, gesturing to what looked like a teapot in his office.<br/><br/>Weiss accepted, walking over and taking a cup for herself, trying her best to keep her hands from shaking. Once she'd poured herself a cup, she stared down into it in shock.<br/><br/>"It's... hot chocolate?" Weiss mumbled, looking over at the headmaster in surprise, who raised his mug in her direction, a faint smile on his features, before taking a sip of his own drink.<br/><br/>Weiss shrugged after a moment and took a sip. As odd as it was to finally have <em>that </em>rumour she vaguely remembered hearing from Coco confirmed, she was going to make the most of it.<br/><br/>As it turned out, Ozpin had great taste in hot cocoa.<br/><br/><em>---</em><br/><br/>Before long, Ironwood and Professor Goodwitch were there, as well. Strangely, they were very deliberately standing on opposite sides of the room from each other. Was there something going on there that she hadn’t remembered? They’d danced together the night of the CCT break-in, Weiss recalled.<br/><br/>“A pleasure to meet you at last, Miss Schnee.” General James Ironwood greeted Weiss warmly in person. She accepted the handshake, trying her best to hide the initial reaction she’d felt upon seeing him. Namely being to punch him in the face, among other regions. Going by the look on his face, she’d succeeded, at least.<br/><br/>“General.” Weiss said politely to the man who might have abandoned Mantle to die.<br/><br/>In comparison, Professor Goodwitch was easier to deal with.<br/><br/>“Miss Schnee.” The stern teacher greeted her, green eyes seeming to evaluate her every move. Still, she did seem to be trying her best to not make Weiss feel uncomfortable.<br/><br/>“Professor.” Weiss greeted her, trying her best to not feel so small surrounded by all these important members of Ozpin's group, people with real experience, not someone else's.<br/><br/>Qrow had flopped into a seat, watching the proceedings with visible hint of nervous anticipation. Weiss joined him on one of the chairs as things began.<br/><br/>It was strange, seeing all of them together like this. It reminded her of the Vytal Festival.<br/><br/>Weiss supposed she was glad that only Ironwood had come from abroad. Lionheart would be a problem, no matter where he was, though.<br/><br/>“Well,” Ironwood began, just about failing to conceal his uncharacteristically nervous excitement as he spoke to Weiss, “I must say I’m relieved that you’ve made it here intact, but I’d very much to confirm what exactly it is that you know. About Salem. About, well, anything relevant. I’ve had my suspicions since I found your… quarters, but if you’d be so kind as to-”<br/><br/>Ah, so that’s how they’d figured out she’d gone to Patch. She supposed it only made sense, considering how Qrow had told her Ironwood had visited the institute the day of her escape.<br/><br/>“Prove that I remember the future?” Weiss asked, thinking about all she’d found out - all the secrets that had been uncovered in the life she remembered. What was the right thing to say?<br/><br/>She looked to Ozpin. “I’ll start with something I certainly couldn’t have learned in the institute, Ozma.”<br/><br/>Ozpin looked intently at her, nodding after a while, seeming… oddly taken aback.<br/><br/>He hadn’t believed it. Not entirely, until now, Weiss thought.<br/><br/>“...How?” Ozpin asked, quietly.<br/><br/>Weiss took a deep breath before speaking. She had to do this carefully. She had to make sure this went right. That meant doing everything… in the best order she could figure out.<br/><br/>Fortunately, she’d had six years to plan this conversation.<br/><br/>“Long story short, your successor told me.” She explained, and watched as several heads in the room looked with varying amounts of surprise at the Headmaster. He seemed to accept it in his stride, however.<br/><br/>“Please, go on.” Ozpin indicated calmly.<br/><br/>“It'll be better to explain that later. First… Before I go ahead, I need you all to promise me that you’ll keep a level head.”<br/><br/>Ozpin nodded. Qrow looked strangely at her, as did Glynda. A strange look passed over Ironwood's features. He was... perplexed.<br/><br/>“A level head? Miss Schnee, I assure you that we-” Ironwood began, before Weiss cut him off. It was surprising, really, feeling this… certain. She hadn’t felt this strong in a while. But she knew she had to do this right.<br/><br/>These people were at the height of their certainty in the security of the world under their protection. They needed to be prepared for what came ahead, and they needed to be sensible.<br/><br/>“Many of the things that happened…” Weiss continued, looking between everyone in the room.<br/><br/>“They were because of secrecy, because of division.” Weiss went on, forcing the words out as some of the greatest defenders of humanity looked down at her. She couldn’t afford to lose her nerve, now.<br/><br/>“I’ve spent six years thinking on how to tell <em>anyone</em> about this. I’m not going to get it wrong now. I need you all to promise that whatever I tell you in this room, no matter how… concerning, you’ll keep calm. Mistakes <em>were</em> made. People… people were afraid. We need to move on from that, and work to build a new future.”<br/><br/>The room was silent for a moment as she finished, the teachers sharing curious glances and unspoken sentiments between one another.<br/><br/>“... I think I understand, Miss Schnee. Very well.” Ironwood agreed, looking at her a look that combined appreciation and dread. Qrow and Glynda agreed, but Weiss could tell everyone in the room felt distinctly on edge. Ozpin was inscrutable, but seemed to steel himself. He clutched the hilt of his cane at his side, almost instinctively.<br/><br/>Weiss supposed it had to be enough.<br/><br/>“I’ll begin then, with a story. The story of the Fall of Beacon.”<br/><br/>The room felt quiet as Weiss spoke.<br/><br/>“The part you’ll want to know about first all starts in Mistral…”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Adam is a creepy fucking bastard to write, I have to say.</p><p>It’s all very eguughgghghgghghghg, if you will.</p><p>Regardless, here we are at the end of Chapter One. Weiss and her new allies are set to try and correct history, but the future is not static. Weiss' choices have set new events in motion.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. 2.1 - Thaw, Part One</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p><b>Beacon Academy, Kingdom of Vale</b><br/><br/>Ozpin steadied himself. He realised his hand had been shaking, just faintly. Surprise like this was an unfamiliar sensation, after millennia upon millennia to become certain about so much.<br/><br/>He needed to remain calm, though; Ozpin had much to think on. The girl’s tale had been long, and he yet sensed that it was only the beginning, and only a summary at that, of a larger story.<br/><br/>Ozpin checked the clock on the wall - they had been speaking already for more than two hours. It had felt like far longer.<br/><br/>“What will you do about Leo, then?” The child asked them, with all the resignation in her voice of one who had just passed the torch. It wasn't difficult to see the exhaustion in her as she slumped into her chair, watching the discussion with weary eyes.<br/><br/>He could understand that. He was more than familiar with regret - with hoping you'd made the right choices and done things in the best way.<br/><br/>Just listening had made clear that Weiss Schnee was not what she seemed at first sight - far from the mad, disturbed child the news had spoken of. She spoke one moment with the manic energy and enthusiasm of a child, and at others with the tired weight of a veteran Huntress.<br/><br/>“Well,” Qrow sighed, “First thing we’ve got to do is confirm that Leo’s been subverted already.”<br/><br/>Weiss had been more than willing to recall secrets to prove her unusual source of knowledge. Secrets like the Relics, the condition of the Winter Maiden, the magic he had bestowed upon the Branwen twins. It had been enough to convince Ozpin, certainly, and all the others in his office.<br/><br/>“We’ll need to gather enough evidence to justify arresting Leo.” Glynda added. If the information had shaken her, she showed no sign of it, but Ozpin knew full well that his dear friend and subordinate was not one to wear her emotions on her sleeve.<br/><br/>In some respects, Weiss' tale reminded him of his own experience. But he saved those thoughts for later.<br/><br/>There was only so much the teenager could tell of the years she remembered in the course of one afternoon. The rest, she had already written down, whilst some she openly admitted she wasn’t sure how to tell. The remainder of her journey after the… <em>Fall</em> of Beacon remained in many respects, a mystery, though she insisted upon revealing all within due time.<br/><br/>“And how do you propose we do that, Glynda?” James asked quietly, a hint of despair beneath the facade of militaristic calm. “Lionheart’s not going to just let us search his office, and if a man like Arthur Watts is involved in Salem’s plans, then even if we did manage to search his office and his files, there’s a chance we’d never find anything incriminating.”<br/><br/>And yet, it had already been enough to shake him. The future Weiss had lived was bleak, indeed.<br/><br/>“He’d been behaving oddly, I remember… Ozpin’s successor telling us. Ignoring his instructions. But I guess that’s not exactly a crime you can get him for.” Weiss interjected, receiving hesitant nods from those paying attention in the room.<br/><br/>Beacon in ruins. The Tower, fallen. Salem, triumphant. The Kingdoms… isolated. Divided. Everything he had worked against, across many lives. And practically all lost in the space of a single year.<br/><br/>“I don’t exactly see many alternatives, James. We all agree Leo needs to go down, but you’re building up to something.” Qrow asked, leaning out of his chair.<br/><br/>And he would have been dead, fallen in defence of the order he’d worked so hard to preserve.<br/><br/>Many names had been uttered, some familiar, others yet unknown. Cinder Fall. Arthur Watts. Hazel Rainart. Tyrian Callows.<br/><br/>“I am." Ironwood confirmed, taking a deep breath before he explained further, cradling his head with his human hand. "I can get an Atlesian specialist team over to Haven in days. Overnight, I can send them in, tear apart Lionheart’s Office for any evidence we can find, seize the Headmaster and bring him to a secure location for questioning.”<br/><br/>Ozpin barely noticed the room fall silent.<br/><br/>“You can’t be serious. If your specialists get caught… ” The Schnee muttered.<br/><br/>The threat that stung the most, however, was Leonardo Lionheart. His trusted subordinate, the means by which Salem infiltrated their defences so perfectly, and a traitor who he’d told of Weiss Schnee’s possible knowledge of Salem upon commencing the search, days ago.<br/><br/>“I don’t see any other solutions on display here that will rapidly fix the gaping hole in our defences.” Ironwood replied, his voice raised, filled with incredulity.<br/><br/>Ozpin looked up from his desk finally, considering his next words. The information concerning Leo had unsettled those around him to the point of panic. The Academies - long thought to be their greatest shield against her efforts - were now apparently compromised thoroughly. Almost every assumption they'd been able to rely on for the past decades was now thrown into doubt.<br/><br/>“Calm down, James.” Qrow insisted.<br/><br/>“‘<em>Calm down?</em>’ I’m calm. What I’m proposing is perfectly reasonable, considering what we’ve been told.” Ironwood retorted. As ever, Ironwood’s heart was in the right place, but he was a soldier, and the soldier’s solution was always his preference.<br/><br/>“Sending a team to arrest Lionheart out of the blue is reasonable? Could’ve fooled me.” Qrow mock-laughed.<br/><br/>Ozpin looked to the child who’d started all of this. Weiss Schnee had impressed as she told her tale, commanding the room with her presence. Now, as she slumped back into her chair, she looked pained at the debate around her, even as she seemed to have a great weight taken off of her shoulders.<br/><br/>“Leo is a <em>threat</em>. Every student he sends to us is a potential threat. Every piece of information we’ve given him could be in Salem’s hands already! You heard Weiss’ story yourself! Hundreds of Huntsmen - <em>dead</em>, because of Leo’s capacity to act with impunity within Mistral!” Ironwood bellowed.<br/><br/>There was something odd about the way the Schnee looked at Ironwood, or rather, how she didn’t. Wherever he moved, she averted her gaze. The few times she did look at him, it was with uncertainty written across her features.<br/><br/>She was unsure of him, that much was certain. Ozpin was afraid of what that could mean, even if she’d seemingly been fine with sharing her secrets with the Atlesian.<br/><br/>“And your solution is to - <em>what?</em> Start a war with Mistral? ‘Cos that’s what sending a group of your soldiers into the middle of Haven would do if they get caught! You’d solve a global crisis by starting another one? We might be allies within this room, but out there, that’s not internal security. That’s invasion!” Qrow bit back.<br/><br/>“<em>We need-</em>”<br/><br/>“We need to be clever about this, gentlemen. That means <em>calming down.” </em>Glynda told the pair of them, arms crossed and eyes narrowed.<br/><br/>“You can’t seriously be considering what you’re proposing, James,” Goodwitch went on, looking back at the General. “Not only would you be imposing Atlesian force upon an independent Kingdom, you’d have no grounds to arrest Leonardo even if you were acting within Mistrali law.”<br/><br/>“It needs to be a Mistrali, if we’re going for the ‘arrest him’ plan.” Qrow said. “That’s the only way it’d fly.”<br/><br/>Ironwood sighed, clutching his temple, before speaking once more.<br/><br/>“Well, that would be useful if we had trustworthy associates within the Mistrali government, people who could acquire evidence and arrange for a legitimate arrest. Unfortunately however, we don’t, because the one man in Mistral who knows about Salem is <em>working for her!”</em><br/><br/>Ozpin’s cane slammed against the floor. It was, as ever, an effective means of gaining attention. All eyes turned to him.<br/><br/>Much was on his mind, and the words did not immediately come easily, but he knew he had to stop the room from descending into mindless bickering, no matter how valid the points involved were.<br/><br/>“...We must proceed carefully. We can’t afford shows of force that shatter the peace, not when Leo is but one of our imminent problems.” Ozpin insisted.<br/><br/>“Leo,” Ozpin continued, “Must not be allowed to realise that we’ve become aware of his deception. We can neither allow him to realise what a vital source of information Miss Schnee has proven to be, nor should we allow him to become aware that we are moving against him.”<br/><br/>“Might there be any evidence we could use against him?” Glynda wondered.<br/><br/>“That’d be useful, if we knew there was any proof to be found. As far as you know, Miss Schnee, was there?” Qrow asked Miss Schnee.<br/><br/>Weiss shook her head hesitantly. “All we found was a body, after his ambush had failed. He was… dead. <em>Something</em> had killed him, but we didn't find anything else.”<br/><br/>Ozpin shut his eyes. Salem cared little for the lives of her subordinates. To hear what might become of a man he’d considered a friend was…<br/><br/>...depressingly unsurprising.<br/><br/>“If… as Miss Schnee told us, Leo coordinated an ambush with other agents of Salem, it’s likely he possesses some means of communication with Salem, or at least to an intermediary. Something to link him to her network.” Ironwood concluded.<br/><br/>“Still a pretty big ‘might’ there, James.” Qrow retorted.<br/><br/>There was one thing, Ozpin concluded, that might work. Or at least, he hoped it would, he considered with a heavy heart. Lionheart was, as far as he could tell, the centre of all of this - the means by which Salem would succeed in subverting his defences - the betrayal that would throw the world into war. Resolving Lionheart's possible betrayal would buy them time for all the rest - perhaps even years more of peace and preparation for Salem's next attacks.<br/><br/>“I will go to Mistral - visit Headmaster Lionheart. A friendly, discreet visit to an old friend and colleague, perhaps to discuss the details of the next Vytal Festival. It won't be difficult to explain.” He pondered aloud.<br/><br/>Ironwood nodded to himself, visibly relieved that Ozpin had a plan and agreeing, at least for the moment, with the concept.<br/><br/>"No one would question you of all people showing up to visit." Ironwood noted.<br/><br/>Ozpin kept his expression placid and calm, refusing to let the fresh grief show on his face. No matter how unsurprised he might really be at the end of the day, Leo hadn't just been an ally. He'd been a friend, a comrade, and a confidant. A brother in arms.<br/><br/>And now he was an enemy.<br/><br/>“And then what, Oz?” Qrow asked him.<br/><br/>Ozpin sighed. He had always considered it would be necessary to do this. No ally was beyond failure - not even himself. It would hurt, all the same.<br/><br/>“I will… <em>have words </em>with him, and extract an honest account of his loyalties, one way or another.”<br/><br/>“And then,” Ozpin went on, “If Leo has been turned at this point, I will ensure he quietly resigns.”<br/><br/>After that, Lionheart’s treasons could be dealt with, quietly.<br/><br/>Leaving Leo as their sole confidant in Mistral had been a mistake, he saw now. Secrecy had aided them in preventing panic and protecting the Relics, but it also made it easier for his allies to be subverted, isolated as they were.<br/><br/>He would have to contemplate Leo’s successor or, perhaps, successors, carefully.<br/><br/>“At the very least, we can rest assured that Leo only knows the barest details of our newest ally and what she knows - I had yet to report to any of the other headmasters that Miss Schnee had been found and brought to Beacon.”<br/><br/>“Which means that no one’s going to be looking for her in Vale.” Qrow noted.<br/><br/>Some realisation seemed to strike the Schnee girl in that moment, as an awkward smirk crossed her features. A hesitant chuckle escaped, and all eyes turned to her.<br/><br/>“What is it?” Qrow asked.<br/><br/>“I might have… saved the transport I stowed away on to Patch from a White Fang raid… using my Semblance?” She told them nervously.<br/><br/>The room once again fell silent.<br/><br/>Qrow spoke for all in the room as he sighed.<br/><br/>“Well, that could be a problem.”<br/><br/>---<br/><br/><em>“Whoever we choose to succeed Lionheart, we shall have to keep a closer eye on them in the future. We can’t just leave Headmasters as the undisputed protectors of their Relics.”<br/><br/>“You need allies you can trust.”<br/><br/>“I gather you have suggestions in mind, Miss Schnee?”<br/><br/>“I have a few names you might want to consider.”</em><br/><br/>---<br/><br/>The afternoon went on. Decisions were made. Questions were asked. New matters and threats that Miss Schnee knew of were considered. Glynda had needed to leave after a while - someone had to continue to focus on the day to day business of the school, even if the Academy remained on break, but the others had remained, making plans and considering contingencies.<br/><br/>Ozpin agreed that they would need to further strengthen the security of the CCT Network, especially if a man like Arthur Watts - a man he’d never met but had developed a suitable reputation as a master of technology - was in league with Salem.<br/><br/>Then the conversation once again went the way of the Maidens.<br/><br/>“Fortunately, even if Leo is a spy,” Qrow piped up, “We don’t <em>have </em>a Fall Maiden to lose right now. Whoever she is, she hasn’t shown up yet. What did you say her name was, kid?” Qrow looked over the Schnee girl.<br/><br/>“Amber. Her name was Amber.” Weiss reminded him quietly. It was at least something of a hint, Ozpin supposed, even if the name was not uncommon.<br/><br/>But for now, other matters took priority.<br/><br/>“I’m afraid searching for the Fall Maiden is a matter that will have to wait, Qrow.” Ozpin said, looking to Weiss.<br/><br/>She looked very small, sat in that chair. Regardless of the memories she bore, she was still almost a child in body. And yet already she had changed the world with her words.<br/><br/>“For now, at least until matters stabilise, Miss Schnee’s protection is your responsibility. For her own security she can certainly remain at Beacon, but she cannot remain as… <em>herself</em>, so to speak.”<br/><br/>“I understand,” Weiss replied. “Even if Salem doesn’t know about me, I’m still being searched for. I’ll need to hide who I am.”<br/><br/>“Indeed.” Ozpin confirmed.<br/><br/>For now, Weiss Schnee needed to disappear.<br/><br/>---<br/><br/>“Officially,” Ironwood explained as he prepared to leave the office, “I’m still touring one of our nearby garrisons. Now that my shuttle’s… navigational error is fixed, I’ll be able to return to Atlas, roughly on schedule.”<br/><br/>He’d been able to sneak away from Atlas for long enough to hear the beginnings of what Weiss knew, but his duties demanded a speedy return. Atlas Academy would always need a leader and a protector.<br/><br/>They would continue their plans discussing Weiss’ information via secure channels, as soon as the breach on Lionheart’s end was plugged. Already, Ironwood had promised support in pursuing Arthur Watts.<br/><br/>“Good luck, General.” Ozpin bade his friend farewell.<br/><br/>“Likewise, Headmaster.” Ironwood said. He turned, stepping into the office’s elevator, and the room was left in silence.<br/><br/>“I suspect,” Ozpin began, as the trio were left alone, “That you have more to say now that General Ironwood is absent.”<br/><br/>Weiss was quiet again, for a while. “...Ironwood tries to do what he feels is right. You shouldn’t be too worried about him, at least for now.”<br/><br/>Ozpin sighed, “Another long story, I suppose.”<br/><br/>Weiss looked over at him. Hesitantly, she gave an affirmative nod, "Not one for today. I will tell it, though, when this is done. Please don't worry, though. I think he'll be alright for now."<br/><br/>Ozpin accepted that with a quiet nod. He could hardly criticise her for withholding knowledge; not after all he'd done for good and ill.<br/><br/>Qrow looked between the pair, and scoffed. “Great, just <em>great. </em>Is there anyone in this group who didn’t fuck up at some point?”<br/><br/>“Well, aside from collapsing into an alcoholic stupor that one time, you were alright, Qrow.” Weiss promised him with a sudden, dismal smirk, though the humour didn't reach her eyes.<br/><br/>The Professor suspected another sad story lay there; at least that one he'd perhaps seen coming. As much as he was closer to Qrow than most, he knew that some things even his knowledge and power could not easily repair.<br/><br/>“You do a really good job of reassuring people without <em>actually</em> reassuring them, y’know that, kid?”<br/><br/>---<br/><br/>Qrow went looking for the kid later on.<br/><br/>Oz had discreetly opened up one of the visitor’s rooms in Beacon Tower for her use - it was better than leaving her in the Vault with a sleeping bag, even if that might have been the quieter way of going about things.<br/><br/>Even with the urgent need to find out as much as possible, Ozpin had always liked to go on about the work-life balance or some such bullshit that Qrow frankly had never paid much attention to.<br/><br/>So, Weiss had been released from the office to rest herself for a few hours, while other matters were attended to - namely, working on the plan for what they were going to do with the time traveling runaway they were now looking after. They'd get her out of Beacon soon enough, once they'd made sure what do about the kid's health. They didn't exactly want doctors going to and from any safehouses they had in mind.<br/><br/>As soon Ironwood has sent them the documents from that hellhole they’d been keeping the Schnee in, they’d realised that the kid was probably gonna need some substantial care.<br/><br/>Oz knew a few doctors who were discreet enough, and he’d told Qrow to find Weiss and explain that she’d probably need a fair bit of treatment to get off the stuff she’d been pumped full of in the last six years without too many consequences. That was going to take time, though.<br/><br/>“Y’know, when Oz said you could use some rest, I’m not sure this is what he had in mind.” Qrow said as he entered the Schnee’s quarters.<br/><br/>She was training, or at least trying to. That sword she always had around was in one hand, clearly replacing the weapon she’d remembered, as Weiss went haphazardly through the motions of some kind of faintly recalled combat style in the confines of her quarters.<br/><br/>She had the technique, Qrow thought, even if it wasn’t exactly his style. A little rusty, maybe, but she had the instincts still. Fast, sudden movements; deft control of the blade in her hands, coupled with quick strikes with her weapon.<br/><br/>He could also tell that it was killing her. He could see the strain in every movement, hear the heavy breaths in her lungs. Pain wasn’t easy to disguise. It wasn’t coming easy to her.<br/><br/>What was letting her down was her body. Normally, he’d just pin it down to a 14 year old trying to do something she wasn’t ready for yet, but he knew what she’d been through in that place she’d been locked up in. Bunch of Atlesian assholes had pumped her full of a bunch of stuff he’d reserve for his worst enemies, all to keep her docile and weak.<br/><br/>Probably a big reason for her being… the way she was, right now.<br/><br/>Aura would usually keep you alive, stop you from wasting away completely. But if your Aura was weakened, well, that could cause problems.<br/><br/>“Couldn’t sleep.” Weiss muttered, finally pausing to take a proper rest. She fell back onto the room’s single bed in a heap, her eyes glancing about the place. “So I decided to give things a try. Everything feels off. Bed’s too soft. Room’s too open. Body isn’t listening, even though I remember how to fight.” She listed glumly.<br/><br/>“Well, going by what you’ve told me, you were never a Huntress. You just remember being one.” Qrow clarified. She shouldn't have been surprised that things weren't working as she'd have liked.<br/><br/>She looked over at him sullenly. “I know. But those memories still feel like mine. I still feel the instincts that... Old Weiss had. I remember what it was like to be her. It makes things… difficult. Not just remembering being an adult, but I remember being stronger, even at this age. My Semblance is about the only thing that seems to work.”<br/><br/>Qrow sighed, looking over at the teenager. This wasn’t going to be an easy conversation, he suspected.<br/><br/>“Look, kid… we’re not running short on fighters.” Qrow started.<br/><br/>“You could always use one more, eventually.” She looked at him, pleadingly. Qrow could tell what the kid was trying to say. She needed someone to tell her she wasn’t being an idiot - that she wasn’t hoping for the impossible.<br/><br/>Qrow huffed. Talking to this girl was… difficult. She wasn’t just some kid. She was someone who'd known him, who seemed to know more about what was going on with the war against Salem than he did sometimes, which wasn’t something he was used to.<br/><br/>On the other hand, she was still a kid, in so many ways. She wanted to be told that the future she’d dreamed of hadn’t been stolen from her by one mistake.<br/><br/>He understood that feeling well enough.<br/><br/>Qrow took a breath, considering what would be best to say. Would it have been better to tell the kid that her plans probably wouldn’t work out? Qrow thought about what she’d been through. It was probably the pity talking, but for once, he just didn’t feel like advocating the cynical perspective.<br/><br/>“You don’t need to try and rush into it, kid. Sit down, take a breather. You’ve already been through a lot.” He told her, slipping in to his vaguely respectable instructor routine he'd just about figured out in his days working over at Signal. After all, only a few days before she’d been stuck in that institution. She’d barely had a chance to rest since, as far as Qrow could tell. Starting this early, in her condition, was only going to bring disappointment.<br/><br/>“I’ve already told you most of the important things I know, and without that, I’m back to being helpless. I… I don’t want to be helpless again.” She said, shaking her head.<br/><br/>Qrow sighed, leaning against the wall. Once again, he really wished he wasn’t the one having this conversation.<br/><br/>“It’s bad enough to feel alone. It makes things worse to feel… like this. Everything just feels… <em>wrong.” </em>She said, staring at her pale hands. They were shaking.<br/><br/>It made a bitter sort of sense. On paper, Weiss’ time travel was an undisputed win. Looking at her, however, the cost of having a lifetime of memories dumped on a kid seemed clear… It reminded him a little of the few times Oz had discussed his own reincarnation.<br/><br/>Qrow sighed. He really wasn't the right person to deal with this.<br/><br/>“Well…” Qrow replied. “There <em>are</em> ways around that, kid. You’re not the first person to need to work themselves into good condition or get past some bad treatment. Oz can get that sorted for you. You’ve just gotta try not to do everything at once. It’ll burn you out.” Qrow explained, taking a seat on the edge of the bed.<br/><br/>Weiss smirked sadly at that. “I said something similar to a friend once...” She looked off out the window, wistful. It was a look Qrow understood well.<br/><br/>It wasn’t hard to understand how that had been bothering her, especially if that had been all she’d had to think about in that place. Memories were good, but they could also be a trap, sometimes. That was why he drank.<br/><br/>He never said he’d found a <em>good</em> solution.<br/><br/>She stood up from the bed, looking him in the eyes. “I know it’s going to be hard. Harder than I remember. And I know I can be useful in other ways. But I… I need this.”<br/><br/>Qrow could understand that. He didn’t think he’d be all that different in her situation. “Well, I won’t get in your way, and I don’t see why Oz would, if that makes you feel better.” The kid's knowledge was going to help a lot with what was coming, but she was an ally, not a tool.<br/><br/>“...It helps.” She accepted, quietly. “Thanks, Qrow.”<br/><br/>Eventually, she looked back up at him. “Come on then, sad bird man. You did come down here for a reason, didn’t you?”<br/><br/>Qrow snorted as he gestured towards the door. “Oh, that is <em>not </em>my name, Schnee.”<br/><br/>After that, they left the room. Qrow just hoped he’d said something resembling the right things for once.<br/><br/>---<br/><br/><em>“Junior.”<br/><br/>“Alright, I’ve got something for you. Followed up a few rumours, paid a guy to go through the camera records, and we’ve found her. Heading on the airship to Beacon Academy. Before you ask, no, I do not have eyes at Beacon Academy. Whatever she’s up to there, I am neither willing nor able to find out. I’ll send you the files - as soon as you send the money, of course.”<br/><br/>“You’ll get your money. Sending you the coordinates to a drop point - you’ll find your Lien in a trash can there.”<br/><br/>“Nice doing business with you.”<br/><br/>---<br/><br/>“The news from my source complicates things.”<br/><br/>“The High Leader will not approve.”<br/><br/>“I know. That’s why I won’t tell her. Not until the job is done, anyway.”<br/><br/>“...I knew I sensed boldness in you, Taurus. You have my approval. I will follow you.”<br/><br/>“Good. I’ll gather the rest of the team. We need to prepare for scouting out Beacon Academy.”</em><br/><br/>---<br/><br/><b>Dockyards District, Kingdom of Vale</b><br/><br/>Adam had informed them all that he’d be arriving back in the safehouse soon with news about his search for Weiss Schnee.<br/><br/>It had been days since he’d first left to check with his sources, and since then he’d only been back intermittently while the team waited for a go-ahead, like a coiled spring. The air felt charged with anticipation. Even Blake couldn't deny a faint sense of budding excitement.<br/><br/>Pretty much all that there was to do while waiting was preparation. Everyone’s weapons had been cleaned at least three times. Arkeitz had been doing press-ups, before they’d had a little arm-wrestling competition between him and Flaka. No one had been surprised when the giant of a chainsaw wielder had won, but there had been laughter, all the same.<br/><br/>Ione and Izar had spent an afternoon trading stories of their own hunts. The Vacuan mostly spoke of Grimm she’d fought in her desert home, while Izar told wild tales of sporting hunts in the Mistrali slums, fighting human landlords who oppressed their Faunus tenants.<br/><br/>Before long, two nights had passed, and everyone was getting used to each other.<br/><br/>This was good, Blake thought. They’d work better together if they could get a little bit of mutual trust going.<br/><br/>Only Iah remained something of an outsider, looking curiously at them all from his corner at all times. He looked like he was writing something, with a pen and ink. Poetry, maybe.<br/><br/>Still, if Adam had chosen him for this mission, Blake knew she could count on him in a fight.<br/><br/>---<br/><br/>“Interesting blades.” The Vacuan tracker, Ione, had said, looking over the weapons Blake was cleaning.<br/><br/>Gambol Shroud might not have looked like much, but it was hers. Using them, she’d found a combat style that suited her. She would have felt lesser in a fight using another weapon.<br/><br/>“I made them myself.” Blake explained with a small hint of pride. She was still getting used to the technique, but she’d been getting better.<br/><br/>“That’s good.” Ione replied, tapping her bow. “A weapon should reflect the bearer.”<br/><br/>After that, they sat there for a while, tending to their weapons. Blake had a question, however - one she thought the Vacuan could answer - one that wouldn’t go away, for one reason or another.<br/><br/>“Do you think we’ll find her? Weiss Schnee, I mean.” Blake asked the tracker, after a while.<br/><br/>“I’ve never hunted in a city before, but I’d say it’s possible. The girl is without allies, and hardly the kind who can blend in.” Ione ruminated.<br/><br/>Blake nodded, accepting the Vacuan’s reply.<br/><br/>She wasn’t sure it was the answer she wanted.<br/><br/>Her feelings were… mixed. She understood the logic of it all, understood the sense in bartering with Weiss Schnee’s freedom. The lives of so many Faunus could be helped by forcing the SDC to the bargaining table.<br/><br/>The White Fang would keep her as a hostage, of course, if the SDC refused to agree.<br/><br/>Was that right? Did some poor child the Schnee family had locked up as an embarrassment deserve to go into a White Fang cell for the rest of her life?<br/><br/>Blake shook her head. She had to consider the Faunus first. This was going to help bring equality one step closer. No one would be able to ignore them, then. That was what Blake told herself. No one was going to get hurt, either, if this all went right. That wasn’t what they were fighting for.<br/><br/>Telling herself that didn’t get rid of that feeling she had - the fears growing in the pit of her stomach, as much as she wished she could ignore them. She felt conflicted.<br/><br/>Still, she trusted Adam with her life. She wasn't going to fail him now, whatever her doubts.<br/><br/>---<br/><br/>All conversation ended as Adam and Iah finally stepped into the room, the latter bringing the group to silence with a tap of his staff.<br/><br/>Adam grinned as he made his announcement.<br/><br/>“Brothers and sisters. We’ve found our target."</p><p> </p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Because I didn’t want to write five chapters of Weiss summarising the show’s events, generally assume that Ozpin and his allies have been made aware of details involving Cinder’s plot, how that ties up with Lionheart, the situation with the Maidens, and the names of Salem’s agents. As a result, it was fairly simple to conclude that Lionheart was presently the priority.</p><p>Things she’s been less keen on talking about have been the events surrounding the information Jinn told her and her friends concerning Ozpin and the events in Atlas during Volume 7. She doesn’t intend to not tell them about it, but it’s something she’s taking her time with in laying the groundwork for by going over all of this.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. 2.2 - Thaw, Part Two</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p><b>Dockyards District, Kingdom of Vale</b><br/><br/>“<em>You’re morons.</em>” Ione had hissed once Adam had finished explaining his findings. All eyes in the cramped room of the safehouse looked between the Vacuan tracker and their leader.<br/><br/>“You have doubts about my plan?” Adam asked the tracker carefully, walking with slow, purposeful steps further into the room.<br/><br/>Blake couldn't ignore the tension in the air, nor the way Adam's tone was starting to make her feel nervous.<br/><br/>The news that Weiss Schnee was likely hiding out at Beacon Academy had been concerning. The idea that Adam was going to go ahead nonetheless with trying to take her had surprised some in the room.<br/><br/>Blake didn’t know what to think about it all. As far as she was concerned, Beacon produced protectors of both humans and Faunus alike. She had no quarrel with the idea of Huntsmen and Huntresses protecting everyone from the Grimm, and she knew certainly that they couldn’t hope to fight off an entire school if things went wrong. If things didn’t go perfectly, the entire mission would be a failure.<br/><br/>But she also felt out of her depth. She was barely considered old enough to be a fighter, and all the others in the room were all far more experienced than her, had been on more missions than her and been trusted with greater duties. She’d been with the White Fang all of her life, but when it came to combat she always felt she had a lot to learn. That made it difficult to speak. She didn’t feel like her opinion mattered for much.<br/><br/>For all that she hesitantly acknowledged that this mission might even do some good, it didn’t change the implications of what they’d be doing, though. What they’d be going up against. It was… daunting.<br/><br/>“Doubts? You’re talking about attacking <em>Beacon Academy.</em> I’ve got more than doubts. You’d destroy the White Fang’s credibility by attacking the Huntsmen! Of course, that won’t be a problem for us, because we’ll all be imprisoned or <em>dead</em> in the attempt!” The woman spat, looking over the assembled warriors.<br/><br/>“We won’t be attacking anything. We’ll just be… passing through to seize our objective.” Adam elaborated carefully. “Speed will be our strength. Speed and ferocity.” He said, raising a clenched fist. He received approving nods from several in the room.<br/><br/>The Vacuan turned to the rest of them. “You can’t seriously tell me you’re considering this - any of you? Dozens of fighters would be on call within seconds of our emergence. We will be outmatched and destroyed!”<br/><br/>The team's bomb-maker shook his head, pulling himself up by the handle of his hammer.<br/><br/>“I dunno, going through Beacon,” Flaka muttered as he stood. “Sounds like a pretty good shot at glory, win or lose. Hell of a place to go down fighting, am I right?”<br/><br/>Arkeitz nodded, his voice an eager growl, muffled by his mask. “I’m not afraid of a little Schnee girl and a few Huntsmen. We can take them.”<br/><br/>Ilia looked between Blake and Adam for a moment. Her masked face was inscrutable. “I’ll follow you, Adam.” She answered coolly.<br/><br/>“Our cause is right. Focus on that certainty in your hearts, and no enemy shall be able to defeat us.” Iah half-whispered from behind his mask, leaning on his staff. It was the first time Blake had heard him speak, and his voice was the telltale rasp of one who’d spent too many years at the bottom of a Dust mine.<br/><br/>Izar remained silent, watching them all from above in her hammock with a predatory gaze.<br/><br/>Blake was full of doubts. She’d read enough history to know that confidence wasn’t enough to secure victory. But she stayed silent, all the same. Adam would have told her that this wasn’t her area of expertise. It didn’t change how wrong this all felt.<br/><br/>“Well, there you go, Ione. You’ve just been outvoted.” Adam retorted to the Vacuan.<br/><br/>“I signed up to hunt the Schnee girl… not <em>commit suicide!</em>” Ione shouted back. She was standing now, looking between all others there.<br/><br/>“It’ll only be suicide if<em> you </em>screw this up for us.” Izar added from her hammock, finally breaking her silence. “Carefully planned, any Huntsman protecting the girl can fall to a clever trap.”<br/><br/>“<em>Idiot child.</em> There is no way the High Leader would stand for this, and you know it! Am I the only one you brought here who isn’t crazy?” Ione asked the lot of them, fists clenched.<br/><br/>At the mention of the High Leader, Adam turned to Ione for a second. Then, he nodded - a slight, subtle inclination of his head.<br/><br/>“So… you’re not with us.” Adam spoke with a strange quality in his voice. It sounded like an instruction. An order.<br/><br/><em>No, he wouldn’t. That’s not… He wouldn’t.</em><br/><br/>Ione seemed to notice something was off as well, scowling at the leader of the team. All around her, the other members were tense. Some reached for weapons.<br/><br/>The Vacuan looked around at the warriors around her, and then back to Taurus, glaring from behind her avian mask.<br/><br/>“Oh. So that’s why you picked us all from separate groups. So we <em>wouldn’t-</em>” Ione went silent as Arkeitz slammed the butt of his chainsaw into the back of her head. She fell down on the ground, unconscious.<br/><br/>Blake gasped at the sight. She eyed the lot of them with wide eyes. No one seemed surprised much.<br/><br/>“Any other complaints?” Adam asked with a wry grin.<br/><br/>The room was silent, for a moment. Seconds felt like minutes as Adam slowly looked around at them all. Even the subtlest movements sounded loud. Masked faces looked between one another. Nobody moved.<br/><br/>“Wisdom, leader.” Iah rasped, bowing as he ended the silence. “We cannot allow subversion to defeat us in our sacred task.”<br/><br/>“Arkeitz, Flaka. Stick her in one of the cells. We don’t have any humans in there to trouble her.” Adam instructed, looking down on the unconscious Vacuan with a cold gaze.<br/><br/>“Gladly, sir.” Arkeitz complied, and the pair slowly got to dragging the unconscious Vacuan away from the meeting area.<br/><br/>Adam turned to Blake, stood in the corner of the room. She didn’t look at him as he approached - she didn’t know what she’d say if she did.<br/><br/>“Blake.”<br/><br/>“She was one of us.” Blake whispered back. None of this felt right. Ione had just wanted to keep them all alive - avoid casualties. All she’d done was question Adam’s plan. They were all members of the White Fang. They were all supposed to be on the same side.<br/><br/>All she’d done is say what Blake had been thinking, Blake realised, as she stared up at Adam.<br/><br/>“She still is. Once we’ve concluded this operation and High Leader Khan sees the wisdom of my methods, she’ll be released. But until then, we can’t allow sedition to ruin our plans - not on a mission this critical. You just have to trust me.” He told her calmly.<br/><br/>Blake struggled to find words. He’d just imprisoned a sister of the White Fang. The way he spoke only made things sound worse. He wasn’t surprised or angry or hurt. He was just… how he always was.<br/><br/>“I’m only doing what’s necessary for the Faunus - for <em>our</em> <em>people</em>, Blake. You know as well as I do that there are those among our people who don’t see what’s necessary. Should we let them hold us back?”<br/><br/>She wanted to say something - to point out that this was against everything she stood for. But the words stuck in her throat. Her doubts kept her silent.<br/><br/>He was everything to her - he’d protected her when she’d been alone after… after she’d remained with the White Fang. It felt abhorrent to even consider… <em>betraying</em> him by voicing doubts.<br/><br/>She had to think of the Faunus. This was all for the Faunus, he’d said.<br/><br/>He was saying all the right words - the words that might have convinced her, otherwise. But she didn’t feel as convinced as usual, as much as it hurt to admit it.<br/><br/>“I trust you.” She said quietly, after a while. It was true. She’d followed him this far - followed him because she’d trusted him with her life - because she’d thought he was right. But this didn’t feel right, and every moment was only convincing Blake more of that. All the same, she didn't know what else to say.<br/><br/>“Good.” Adam smirked, before turning to the rest.<br/><br/>“Ilia, Izar. You’re our stealth experts. I want Weiss Schnee’s whereabouts in Beacon found. Then we can finish this.” He instructed the pair of scouts.<br/><br/>“Of course.”<br/><br/>“Sure.”<br/><br/>“Soon, friends,” Adam promised with a proud laugh, “We will make the humans fear our resolve.”<br/><br/>---<br/><br/>Soon, everybody was once again at work preparing to move out for Beacon. Arrangements had been made for a bullhead to discreetly pick them up in an old courtyard close enough to their safehouse. Then, it was just a matter of waiting for their scouts to give them the signal. That could be days or hours away, depending on how long it took them to find Weiss.<br/><br/>Blake was among them, weapons holstered, ready for the mission. Her heart thumped in her chest as everyone moved on around her. Some were swearing oaths and murmuring amongst themselves at the glories the High Leader would surely have to offer them for their success.<br/><br/>The air dripped with spite. That was the emotion, Blake realised. This was all spite. That wasn’t why she’d agreed to this. This wasn’t what she was here for.<br/><br/>Still got ready to do her job, because she didn’t know what else to do. She was still loyal to the White Fang. She was still loyal to the mission, and she didn't see any other options. Her words wouldn't change anything.<br/><br/>She trusted Adam. He’d been her ally and protector for years - without him, she’d have been alone. But this didn’t feel like the Adam who’d taught her. He was risking everything for a faint chance at… what? The glory of kidnapping a teenager?<br/><br/>Blake didn’t know what to think. She didn’t know what to do.<br/><br/>---<br/><br/><b>Beacon Academy, Kingdom of Vale</b><br/><br/>Hours of talks had turned into days of discussion and planning. Before long, Weiss had grown used to the business of discussion and recollection, and used to the sights of Beacon once more.<br/><br/>As bad as dredging up some of the memories were, she felt glad, all the same, to finally get them out - to know that she might really be making things better.<br/><br/>Soon, Ozpin would discreetly head to Mistral. Hopefully, he could quietly sort things out with the visit to his esteemed peer in Haven.<br/><br/>Other than that, though, Weiss had been allowed to settle into something of a routine. With Ozpin getting ready to perform the first parts of the plan he and the others had concocted with Weiss’ aid, there were less discussions about her memories, now that she’d shared most of the pertinent information, for now, and given Ozpin her little notebook she’d carried from the institution.<br/><br/>Qrow was almost always around, at least for now, and together, the pair of them were starting to work on getting her back into decent health.<br/><br/>The second day she’d spent in Beacon, Ozpin had arranged for a discreet appointment with a friendly doctor, given copies of the documents on her care at that place.<br/><br/>The conclusions the doctor - a friendly enough woman called Reed - had made had been irritating to hear, but not as bad as Weiss had stayed up at night thinking about.<br/><br/>Every day now, she was to spend time engaging in the course of physical therapy the doctor had recommended. Every day, she would have to take a lesser dose of the drugs she’d gotten used to in the institute, with the aim of weaning her off them and avoiding much in the way of side effects.<br/><br/>In many respects, she resented the foggy feelings she’d grown used to in Atlas - how faint her Aura could feel, sometimes, even if they weren’t as bad as they had been. But knowing that it would make it easier to never need them again made the next few months of treatment at least bearable.<br/><br/>It wasn’t anywhere near the end of it, and training was still something she’d have trouble with for a while. But things were looking up.<br/><br/>The Academy faculty had been told about Weiss, at the very least, even if they weren’t in the know about Salem. As far as they knew, Ozpin had been sympathetic to the Schnee daughter’s plight and given her shelter. That meant she wasn’t bothered much, which was fine by her.<br/><br/>Now, she was enjoying a rare moment of solitary rest, sitting in the quarters she’d been assigned for the moment.<br/><br/>Weiss looked in the small mirror in her quarters. The face that stared back felt wrong for many reasons.<br/><br/>It looked far younger than she felt, sometimes. Her face was unblemished and healthy enough, aside from the faint bags that lay under her eyes. She couldn’t help but look sometimes for the scar she knew wasn’t there.<br/><br/>Now, that dissonance wasn’t helped by the head of dark hair she now sported - dyed to help conceal her Schnee looks. There wasn’t much of it to braid yet, after she’d cut it while on the run, so it simply hung back in a short tail for now.<br/><br/>The door knocked gently, interrupting her train of thought.<br/><br/>“Come in.” Weiss replied, looking towards the door.<br/><br/>Professor Ozpin emerged, cradling that cane and the mug.<br/><br/>“I leave for Mistral later today.” Ozpin began. “I expect it to be a short trip - one that I hope has a satisfactory conclusion. I’ll be sure to take into account your advice, for which I am most grateful. You’ve been a great help with what you’ve done, Miss Schnee.”<br/><br/>“Thank you, Headmaster.” Weiss replied. Overall, she had confidence in the professor. Despite his failures, she knew he’d always tried his best. And his mistakes…<br/><br/>Well, they weren’t a problem for now. It was better to think about the issues at hand. She could talk with Ozpin about those once he returned.<br/><br/>The Headmaster would be looking into a fair number of things once he arrived in Mistral - Leo would only be the first of those. It would take time to determine a successor, even if Leo came quietly. She hadn’t been much help with that, but Ozpin had assured her that he already had a few candidates in mind to lead in Haven.<br/><br/>Ozpin was quiet for a moment after that, thinking over his words.<br/><br/>“Qrow has told me you wish to return to, or rather, begin combat training.” The Headmaster asked after a moment.<br/><br/>Weiss nodded. “Yes. I’d… I’d like that.”<br/><br/>"Well, allow me to promise you that we shall do our utmost to help you, Miss Schnee. I do not easily turn away those who wish to protect the people of Remnant, especially ones in which I sense a certain potential. Yours is already proven. Once the worst of your physical issues are overcome by your treatment, I will see what can be done in terms of arranging your training.” The headmaster replied, his smile as kindly and sincere as she remembered.<br/><br/>The Headmaster seemed to remember something else, as well, and Ozpin placed his mug on one of the room’s tables for a moment, reaching into a pocket and drawing out a pile of documents.<br/><br/>“Print copies,” Ozpin explained, “Of your new identity papers, legalities, that sort of thing. Among allies, of course, feel free to refer to yourself however you feel comfortable, but it would be best for you to recollect these details for your new life outside of our circles.” He said, passing the documents over to Weiss, the green files stamped with the seal of Vale.<br/><br/>She accepted the papers, looking over the face on the front document. Her face, and beneath it, an assumed name for her to use.<br/><br/>Weiss sighed. That was going to take getting used to. But she understood it was for the best, at least for now.<br/><br/>“Thank you, professor.” She told him.<br/><br/>Ozpin had one more thing to say before he left.<br/><br/>“And Miss Schnee… If I might offer some advice?” He asked, a curious quality to his voice. He sounded thoughtful, maybe even a little sad.<br/><br/>“Yes?”<br/><br/>“I’d advise you… not to forget, <em>never</em> to forget,” He emphasised, taking a few moments to find the words, “but also not to let what you’ve left behind consume you. I’ve wasted too many lives focusing on memories. Remember that you have new chances ahead of you as well.”<br/><br/>Weiss was silent for a moment, thinking of what to say. He wasn’t saying anything she hadn’t considered already, really, though it did help to hear it from someone else.<br/><br/>But she wouldn’t be herself without those memories. She didn’t know what she’d be, really, without them.<br/><br/>It wasn’t easy to try and make new ones.<br/><br/>“That’s what I’m trying to do, Headmaster, but thank you.” She replied, eventually.<br/><br/>Still, she’d try. She could at least promise that. Wanting combat training wasn’t just a matter of trying to relive the memories she’d cherished. She wanted to help people, and protect them. She wanted to live that life, freely and in peace in a way she hadn’t the first time she remembered.<br/><br/>“Farewell then, for now. I wish you the best of luck with your health.” Ozpin bade her, retrieving his mug as he made his way to leave.<br/><br/>Sitting back now that she was alone again, Weiss thought on Ozpin's words. Difficulties aside, things <em>were </em>going well. She had to remember that.<br/><br/>She was free, after all. She wasn’t trapped in something or somewhere she didn’t want. She was more herself than she might have been, otherwise, trapped with her family or trapped in that place. It could have been worse.<br/><br/>She was helping her friends, she knew. She couldn’t complain about that, as much as it hurt to remember, sometimes. Even the dreams weren’t as bad, now, even if they still came and went.<br/><br/>The memories could be bad, sometimes. They could remind her of all the things she didn’t have. She wouldn’t give them up, though. Not for anything. Her friends would always be there, in her memories, no matter what. They’d keep her going - make this feel bearable. But now, finally, with her stories all but told and Ozpin and his allies taking action, she found herself thinking about the future for once - about where hers was going.<br/><br/>That felt good to think about.<br/><br/>After the professor had left, though, Weiss couldn’t help but feel nervous, though, as much as the notion of Ozpin heading to Mistral relieved her.<br/><br/>Stopping Lionheart, if he needed to be stopped, could do so much to change things - for the better.<br/><br/>On the other hand, it also would make sure that whatever came next…<br/><br/>Weiss was afraid it would be something she wouldn’t expect.<br/><br/>---<br/><br/><b>Dockyards District, Kingdom of Vale</b><br/><br/>“<em>She comes outside from time to time. I’ve seen her walking the grounds. She’s never alone, but there’s just one Huntsman with her. She’s changed her hair, but it’s definitely her.” </em>Ilia’s voice buzzed through the radio.<br/><br/>As their best scouts, she and Izar had gone ahead of them, hiding out in the area directly surrounding the Academy. They would signal for their attack to begin, when the time came.<br/><br/>As much as Adam resented having to pay a human, Junior's files had been useful beyond just directing them to Beacon. If they'd been just going off the picture from the news, they'd never have found the girl at Beacon.<br/><br/>“Good. A single Huntsman will be no obstacle. Taking her will be easy.” Adam noted. “Remain in position. We’ll be there to back you up soon.”<br/><br/>Turning from the radio, Adam looked to them all, assembled before him. His team stood ready for combat, awaiting his orders. Soon, they would be his to command in combat, he knew. He'd chosen them for that purpose - he, Adam Taurus, gifted the finest warriors he could find among the White Fang.<br/><br/>He relished the feeling. This would be the mission that elevated him amongst the White Fang. With a Schnee captured, they would finally recognise his rightful place - recognise all that he had done for the Faunus. Perhaps they would even consider him to lead all of the White Fang in Vale.<br/><br/>His eyes lingered on Blake for a moment. She met his gaze, but only hesitantly. He’d have to talk to her later, make her understand that this was the right way of doing things. Sometimes, she just didn’t seem to get all he was doing for her.<br/><br/>But for now, he had a fight to win.<br/><br/>“Tonight, we move up towards Beacon. Tomorrow, we seize this Schnee whelp. Tell the crew to fuel the transport - we’ll need speed on our side.” He ordered. If all went well, they would have the Schnee in their custody before her protectors at Beacon knew what had happened.<br/><br/>“Rest assured, brothers and sisters. This will be our moment. The White Fang will honour us all for our sacrifices by the time tomorrow’s sun has set.”<br/><br/>Of course, even if the Huntsmen of Beacon held them off...<br/><br/>Weiss Schnee would be theirs, one way or another.<br/><br/>---<br/><br/><b>Beacon Academy, Kingdom of Vale</b><br/><br/>It was a beautiful winter’s day at Beacon - picturesque in a way that Atlas’ ever-threatening frost never could be. The snow only lightly coated the paths and buildings, and the air was still clear.<br/><br/>Weiss found herself wearing a thick winter coat and scarf over her clothes - none particularly chosen for colour or style save the red scarf she’d first picked up in Patch, which helped her look even less the part of a Schnee as she walked alongside Qrow in the Academy’s gardens to catch some fresh daylight air.<br/><br/>There weren’t all that many students around at this time of year - the few that remained while the school was on break largely kept themselves indoors or went out for the festivities to be enjoyed outside of the Academy itself. Beacon was never without others visiting its halls - the headmaster was an important man in the Kingdom, after all, which meant that no one openly questioned the sight of her and Qrow hanging around.<br/><br/>In the gardens, Weiss could enjoy a little peace and quiet, even with Qrow around her at almost all times. The fresh air was welcome after days of being cooped up in Ozpin’s office with the lights dimmed, summing up event after event.<br/><br/>Now that Ozpin had set off for Mistral, it was pretty much a matter of waiting and trying to get better.<br/><br/>She just hoped that Ozpin’s venture to look into Lionheart went more smoothly than the one she remembered.<br/><br/>Unconsciously, Weiss found her hands reaching towards her stomach - where the wound had sat, or rather, it hadn't.<br/><br/>Sometimes she woke up at night, feeling the burning pain cutting through her. That was one of the clearest memories of all.<br/><br/>“Hey, kid?” Someone sat beside her asked. The sound seemed… distant. Like it was happening to someone else.<br/><br/>“Weiss?” Qrow asked again, gently poking her in the shoulder.<br/><br/>Weiss blinked, taking in a bit more of her surroundings again. The two of them were sat on a bench in the middle of the Beacon gardens, surrounded by old, overgrown archways and trees.<br/><br/>Right.<br/><br/><em>Vale. Beacon. This is where you are, Weiss.</em><br/><br/>“Oh, sorry. Still a little... you know.” Sticking with the treatment meant things in the now could get distant, sometimes. Even if she didn’t try to remember things, she could get a little spacey.<br/><br/>“Yeah. You were going to ask me something?” The old Huntsman asked. He was sat beside her, as usual these days, fulfilling his role as assigned guardian, at least for now. Really, there wasn’t much risk to her, Weiss thought, not at Beacon, but it was good not to be alone.<br/><br/>“Oh, right.” Weiss replied, nodding to herself, going back over what she’d been saying. “I was going to ask whether or not you thought it was all going to work out in Mistral.”<br/><br/>Qrow sat back and nodded, thinking to himself for a minute as he took another swig from his flask, the ever-present item catching Weiss' eye.<br/><br/>She really needed to think about talking to him about that. Weiss knew it wouldn’t do much, coming from her, but from what little she remembered of Qrow on the occasions she’d seen him when they were in Atlas, he had seemed… happier without the flask.<br/><br/>She wondered sometimes what had happened to him. Her memories of him cut off before she ever saw either him or Oscar again, that last night before…<br/><br/>Before she’d woken up in bed back at the mansion, an eight year old girl, panicked and alone. She’d been alone. She was alone, and it wasn’t a dream, <em>it hadn’t been a dream-<br/><br/>Back here, Weiss. Come back. You asked Qrow something. Trying to get the alcoholic to kick his habits can come later.</em><br/><br/>Weiss came back to herself, to the present, before Qrow had even put the flask down. She hoped he hadn’t noticed it happening again.<br/><br/>“Oz doesn’t go down easy in a fight, if it comes to that. <em>Not</em> that I’m hoping it will. If anyone could talk Leo into coming quietly, it’d be Oz.” Qrow replied to her.<br/><br/>Weiss accepted his response for a second, thinking Haven as she'd recalled it. She hadn't seen much of the Haven headmaster during the ambush, and Oscar hadn't wanted to speak about it much afterwards. She just hoped that maybe Ozpin would be able to overcome the fear that was keeping the Haven headmaster under Salem's control.<br/><br/>“And then?” Weiss asked, taking deep, quiet breaths. “What happens with everything then?”<br/><br/>She'd already done so much of what she'd planned. There were only a few secrets left to tell, and those were for other, better times to bring them up. She hadn't done much thinking in the years before about what might come after. Just getting out, getting to Beacon, had seemed far off.<br/><br/>“Knowing names doesn’t mean much for now, not without knowing where those names are. With Mistral sorted, it’d be back to the waiting game for most of everyone else, probably, though it’ll be useful to know who and what to look out for, this time. When it comes to me, Oz’ll have me look into things as they happen. Plus, I’ve got a few promises to keep in Patch after all this gets sorted out, getting back to teaching.” Qrow explained.<br/><br/>“As for you,” Qrow went on. “Don’t see why Oz’d keep you cooped up in here forever. Probably do you some good to get out in Vale, maybe, once the heat’s died down and things settle.”<br/><br/>That’d be nice, Weiss thought with a faint, absent-minded smile. It’d be nice to maybe walk around Vale again, enjoy the world in a time of peace.<br/><br/>It felt… good, to have something to look forward to again. Things were starting to finally feel almost normal around here.<br/><br/>She was still smiling to herself when the first bomb rolled on the stone floor in front of them.</p><p> </p><p> </p>
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<a name="section0008"><h2>8. 2.3 - Thaw, Part Three</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p><b>Beacon Academy, Kingdom of Vale</b><br/><br/>The first bomb was soon joined by two more, clattering in front of them.<br/><br/>Weiss gasped as she instinctively summoned a Glyph, pushing the bomb - now <em>bombs</em> - away into the hedgerows - hopefully that would be enough to-<br/><br/>The bombs exploded in bursts of Ice Dust, forming thick solid blocks that took up much of the garden path they’d been sitting in front of, as well as raining down shards of the substance everywhere in heavy, jagged shards.<br/><br/>That had been too close - already her Aura felt weak.<br/><br/>Qrow was a blur of motion as he pulled her from the bench, already drawing his weapon - Harbinger - a hefty-looking blade, his eyes darting around for any more attacks.<br/><br/>They were on them in an instant - masked and hooded White Fang soldiers, leaping over the bushes and archways of the gardens towards them. Weiss gasped at the sight even as she moved. She hadn't thought they'd actually try attacking Beacon - not just to get at her. It was crazy - hadn't they thought this through?<br/><br/>“Stay behind me, kid!” Qrow bellowed, shaking her out of her panicked thoughts, “But not too close!”<br/><br/><em>Right. Bad Luck.</em><br/><br/>Weiss complied, darting behind the Huntsman as the first attackers drew closer in a flurry of weapons. Her mind raced as she watched the fight, careful not to stray from her protector.<br/><br/>Qrow didn’t need to win, as confident as Weiss was in him. He only had to hold them off, at least. This was Beacon, there’d be teachers coming to help the moment they heard the explosions.<br/><br/>These White Fang were fast - they were eager, but they also hadn’t counted on her protector being the man who’d train Ruby Rose.<br/><br/>Qrow easily dodged the first blow - a swing from a brute-looking hammer, watching as the first attacker - a red-robed warrior covered in bandoliers storing grenades glowing with Dust - lost his footing on the ice-covered floor in front of them, falling behind the next pair of attackers as Qrow and Weiss pulled back through the gardens.<br/><br/>The next pair to attack were more confident as they rushed Qrow - a hooded fighter with a Dust-spear, crackling with energy, spinning through the air with surprising speed as he went for Qrow’s throat, and another - this one familiar, Weiss realised - a tall figure wielding a bulky chainsaw easily longer than she was tall.<br/><br/>The first strike was a vicious swing from the chainsaw. Qrow swiftly dodged to the left, forcing the larger warrior to regain his footing in the seconds it took the Huntsman to face the second attack.<br/><br/>Qrow effortlessly met the spear’s strike with his own sword, forcing the tip of the weapon to the ground as he pulled his right hand free, slamming his fist into the warrior’s masked face, forcing the attacker’s body to slam against the garden walls, stunned for the moment. Quickly, Qrow kept spinning, rushing to meet the chainsaw’s next strike.<br/><br/>The two blades met just shy of Qrow’s face as the chainsaw buzzed against Harbinger’s thick blade, the lumbering warrior trying to use brute force to push past the Huntsman’s guard.<br/><br/>Harbinger <em>swished</em> as the weapon shifted to gun configuration, diverting the chainsaw blade away from Qrow. The White Fang warrior audibly gasped as he peered down the point-blank barrels of Qrow’s shotgun, aimed straight for his face.<br/><br/>One shot was enough to stun the fighter, the bulky figure clutching at his shattered mask - a swing with the flat of Qrow’s blade finished the job by knocking the hulking warrior down flat on the ground, his weapon discarded and sputtering on the ground.<br/><br/>The fight had only been going on for ten seconds at most, and Qrow still hadn’t taken a hit.<br/><br/>Weiss’ limbs ached already as she darted back behind Qrow, trying her best to keep close to the fighter even as the White Fang fighters did their best to hit him from all angles. Her Aura felt lower, even if it wasn’t close to depletion - even those small Glyphs had started to tire her out - she’d have to be clever about where she used her Semblance next to help Qrow.<br/><br/>The remainder of the Fang - a crowd of four fighters, nearly every feature hidden behind hoods and masks, were lingering back, waiting their turn, but already she could tell they were all looking for openings that would let them join the melee with the veteran Huntsman.<br/><br/>She could only recognise one among them for now, though she didn’t remember ever ‘meeting’ him in person.<br/><br/>Weiss felt herself chill at the sight of Adam Taurus, leading this ambush.<br/><br/>He was the one who’d hurt Blake and Yang so much.<br/><br/>She had to warn Qrow - warn him about what she’d been told about his Semblance, but the noise of the fight drowned out her voice.<br/><br/><em>“You have got to be kidding me!” </em>a cry pierced the air as the grenade-toting member of the attacking group clutched his weapon, the weapon visibly jammed with prematurely-released Dust that had locked his hand in ice.<br/><br/>She couldn’t help but grin at the sight as she crouched behind Qrow. Bad luck looked like it could come in handy, sometimes.<br/><br/>Weiss’ elation turned bitter as she saw a familiar looking blade rush through the air, just missing Qrow’s head as he dodged again, the blade being swiftly pulled back by a ribbon fixed to it.<br/><br/>Weiss breath hitched as she felt her legs give way underneath her. It was an effort to keep standing - to keep moving with Qrow as she stared back in the direction of the White Fang. <br/><br/><em>Oh, Blake…</em><br/><br/>---<br/><br/>Blake’s heart thumped as she pulled back from her first attempt to join in the fight.<br/><br/>Things weren’t going well. This Huntsman wasn’t some average fighter - he was good, and he was winning. He’d dodged her strike as easily as he’d already dealt with Arkeitz and Iah, and his weapon - some kind of sword-scythe-gun combination weapon, was formidable to deal with compared to their own ramshackle weapons. He seemed to deflect every shot, weave around every strike.<br/><br/>The lack of space in these gardens wasn’t making the fight any easier.<br/><br/>Slowly but surely, the crowd of fighters had been pushing the Huntsman and his charge back through the gardens, but the girl had yet to get far away enough from the Huntsman for any of the White Fang to even consider trying to grab her and run.<br/><br/>Izar had pulled off from the main group to find a vantage point. She hadn’t fired, not yet. Maybe the Mistrali had yet to find a clear shot in the melee.<br/><br/>“Stay with me, kid!” The Huntsman could be heard shouting at the Schnee girl he was protecting. Blake couldn’t see her, but it didn’t change the tight feeling in her stomach that the words brought out.<br/><br/><em>Think of the mission, Blake.</em><br/><br/>Climbing up the archways and branches of the gardens, Blake leapt up in the air again, conscious that they had to finish this quickly, or more Huntsmen would be on them.<br/><br/>For a moment as Blake soared, amber eyes met ice blue ones.<br/><br/>The target was looking up at her, eyes widened and glistening. She was terrified, Blake realised.<br/><br/>It was almost enough to make Blake miss her next strike as she jumped down onto the Huntsman, splitting from her shadow clone just as the Huntsman clove it in two with a single stroke of his blade.<br/><br/>It had thrown the Huntsman off - he’d been expecting to meet resistance, not pass through his attacker - his weapon had gone too far, and Blake tried to capitalise on that, rushing the Huntsman with Gambol Shroud’s blades ready.<br/><br/>Around her, she saw Adam and Ilia moving in, ready to strike him from all directions. This Huntsman wouldn’t be fast enough to meet all of them at once.<br/><br/>If they could end this quickly, no one would get hurt.<br/><br/>She didn’t notice the subtle Glyph that struck the Huntsman - didn’t notice how the Schnee girl collapsed to the floor from her crouching position, Aura flickering.<br/><br/>The Huntsman was faster than he’d been before - almost impossibly so. Adam, Ilia, and Blake had struck from all angles, desperate to finish the fight that had already dragged on for too long.<br/><br/>The Huntsman met all three blows almost simultaneously - it was as if he’d stood in three places at once - pushing the lot of them back with speed.<br/><br/>Ilia’s whip just missed the Huntsman, the weapon audibly sizzling with Lightning Dust.<br/><br/>Blake groaned at the impact of the strike, repelling Gambol Shroud’s blades with a brute, powerful swing. She felt her back brush against the hedges that surrounded the pathway.<br/><br/>She looked quickly around. No one else was here, yet, but they were running out of time. They needed to finish this now, or give up.<br/><br/>Adam was still fighting, by far the least winded of the three remaining.<br/><br/>She couldn’t leave him to fight alone.<br/><br/>Pushing herself to continue, Blake rushed the Huntsman again, hoping the strange effect had dissipated.<br/><br/>She hadn’t seen the loose paving stone that had been kicked up in the fighting. Not until she tripped, mid run, careening into the Huntsman from behind, just barely able to throw her weapon at him.<br/><br/>The weapon soared cleanly past the Huntsman, and he looked back at her, grinning as he reached for the ribbon that had passed him with his free hand.<br/><br/>She felt a powerful force yank at her through the ribbon connecting her to her weapon - felt her feet leave the ground.<br/><br/>Then she was flying, rushing through the air, unable to see what she’d-<br/><br/>Blake struck something, and then darkness.<br/><br/>---<br/><br/>Ribbon-Girl flew through the air into Whip-Girl, and the two of them fell into the garden’s bushes, hopefully out of the fight for good..<br/><br/><em>Alright, Qrow. Five down. One to go.</em><br/><br/>That was when the last one - a horned, masked fighter, had charged back in alone.<br/><br/>The horned warrior’s grin had faltered as Qrow dodged strike after strike.<br/><br/>This whole attack had been sloppy. Attacking Beacon with a force this small and outmatched had been idiotic. And this guy just didn’t know when to quit. They were the only ones left. Everyone else was down or gone, and he still thought this might end well for him.<br/><br/>Blow after blow met Harbinger’s blade, the weapon rapidly switching between scythe and blade form as Qrow continued to deflect the guy’s swings with practised ease.<br/><br/>Still, the fighter was fierce, and fast as well. As much as Qrow wasn’t getting hit, neither was the other guy - not yet, anyway.<br/><br/>Suddenly, Qrow saw something behind the fighter, if only for a second before his attention went back to the fight.<br/><br/>Qrow grinned at his opponent.<br/><br/>“What’s so funny?” The masked Faunus growled.<br/><br/>“You’re fast.” Qrow spoke through gritted teeth. “But you’re also an idiot.”<br/><br/>The summoned Knight, barely taller than a toddler, tackled the White Fang warrior’s leg. It wasn’t much of a distraction, but it was enough.<br/><br/>One swing saw the masked swordfighter thrown down to the ground, groaning in pain.<br/><br/>---<br/><br/>There had been six of them. Already, some had tried to run, vanishing into the gardens around them. Others simply groaned on the ground. Adam was trying to get up, reaching for his fallen sword, his Aura visibly flickering with every movement.<br/><br/>“You alright, kid?” Qrow asked, turning to Weiss carefully. His blade still stood ready to ward off further threats from the remaining White Fang in front of them.<br/><br/>Weiss nodded mutely. She felt weak, but she could stand.<br/><br/>Suddenly, a shot rang out - close, and Qrow was just able to turn, spinning with his blade ready to block anything that came towards him.<br/><br/>It had raced through the air from some unknown shooter, pulsating with Aura, before slamming into the steel mass of Qrow’s weapon. It wasn’t like anything she’d seen before, Weiss thought, as the weapon shattered in a burst of fragments in Qrow’s hands, throwing the Huntsman to the ground.<br/><br/>Qrow gasped as he quickly got back up, eyes darting across the skyline, clutching the broken blade’s handle.<br/><br/>Adam rose, roaring in pain as he drew his own blade again, the steel shining with Aura. He wasn’t moving quickly, but he could still be a problem with Qrow unarmed. Another, a girl with a horned mask and a whip crackling with Lightning Dust, stood up, bruised, but not yet defeated.<br/><br/>Qrow turned to Weiss. He wasn’t beaten - far from it, but this had just gotten harder. “Run, kid! Goodwitch’ll be close! I’ll hold em off!”<br/><br/>Weiss struggled to stand. Everything felt faint. But she listened to him all the same.<br/><br/>“Go!” Qrow barked again, readying his fists as he ran straight for Adam.<br/><br/>Weiss turned and ran.<br/><br/>---<br/><br/>Weiss ran through Beacon’s gardens, struggling to breathe.<br/><br/>Her Aura was almost spent with that last use of her time dilation. Giving Qrow even a few seconds of it had almost been too much. Everything felt dark around her. Her limbs ached.<br/><br/>And Blake was here. Blake was here with them, trying to take her…<br/><br/><em>Focus, Weiss. Focus.</em><br/><br/>Still, the tower was there, close above her. If she could get to one of the teachers, or even a student, she’d be safe.<br/><br/>Weiss just hoped Qrow would be alright.<br/><br/>She turned a corner, straight-<br/><br/>Straight into a figure holding a pair of blades, waiting for her.<br/><br/>The girl, masked and hooded in White Fang garb, was shaking, Weiss realised faintly, as they stared one another down. Gambol Shroud twitched in her hands. The ramshackle weapon was unmistakable.<br/><br/>Weiss’ eyes widened.<br/><br/>She didn’t know what to say.<br/><br/>“I…” Weiss trailed off, eyes fixed on the person standing in front of her. She couldn't even begin to think of trying to run - not when she was so close to-<br/><br/>“Please. I don’t want to hurt you.” A familiar voice begged her from behind the mask. Weiss couldn’t stop shaking as she heard the other speak.<br/><br/>It was Blake. It had to be her. She was wearing the white-red shades of the White Fang, her ears poking out from a hood, a mask covering her face. But it was undeniably her.<br/><br/>The girl who in another life might have been one of her dearest friends raised the gun at her.<br/><br/>---<br/><br/>The horned asshole didn’t stick around long. With a grin, he’d vanished into the bushes as soon as Weiss had left. Qrow had tried to catch up with the bastard, but Whip Girl had pulled him back by his cloak, back into the now-ruined stretch of garden paths they’d been fighting on.<br/><br/>Qrow huffed. His Aura still felt good, but he needed to end this. Sending the Schnee running had been a risk, but he’d been counting on the faculty being near. It’d been almost a minute since the fight had started - someone was bound to be on their way.<br/><br/>“This isn’t going to help anyone, you know.” He told the last standing fighter, sighing as he raised his fists. “All you’ve done is screw yourselves with this… I don’t even know <em>what</em> to call it.”<br/><br/>Whip Girl just scowled from behind her horned mask, ready to attack again.<br/><br/>Or rather, she would have if a lance of telekinetic energy hadn’t thwacked her against one of the stone arches like a ragdoll. For the moment, it looked like she was going to stay down.<br/><br/>Qrow took a sigh of relief, looking over the remnants of Harbinger. Not much of a challenge, all in all, but it had been surprising.<br/><br/>Glynda dropped onto the scene, looking between Qrow and the piles of groaning White Fang members. Several were standing now, looking at the scene before them as several student Huntsmen arrived with the professor.<br/><br/>Qrow tensed as he realised that Weiss wasn’t with her.<br/><br/>“You would be wise to surrender.” Glynda announced coldly to the wounded White Fang fighters, gesturing with her weapon. Around her, students readied weapons.<br/><br/>Outgunned, outmatched, the White Fang members did the only thing they could do. They ran. It was the first thing resembling a sensible decision they’d made all day.<br/><br/>That didn't really matter to Qrow, though as he looked around frantically - he hadn’t seen where Weiss had gone. He’d assumed Glynda would have found her by now, but she hadn’t.<br/><br/>“Where’s Miss Schnee?” Glynda asked him.<br/><br/>"I don't know - I sent her away, but if she's not with you..." Qrow trailed off.<br/><br/>Glynda's composed features paled only slightly. "We'll do what we can to search the school grounds." She told him.<br/><br/>"And I'll do what I can." Qrow replied, clipping what was left his weapon to his belt as he got ready to try and find a better view of the situation, unable to avoid the sickening feeling that he might have made a terrible mistake.<br/><br/>---<br/><br/>Arkeitz ran through the grounds of Beacon Academy alongside Flaka, the bombardier no longer giggling as he rapidly sought to unjam his weapon.<br/><br/>This had all gone wrong. They hadn’t expected the damn Huntsman to be so good.<br/><br/>His face ached. His mask had long since fallen away, shattered, and he felt hot blood flow down past his eyes. That point-blank shot had done away with his Aura, and it was only just starting to regenerate. His chainsaw was lost as well, thrown aside in the fight.<br/><br/>Still, for now, no one was there to block their escape, even if they had to take an unplanned route.<br/><br/>“We get out of the school - into the wilderness - then we can link back up with the others!” He groaned at his companion, the other warrior still muttering to himself as he looked over his thoroughly mangled weapon.<br/><br/>He didn’t know what had happened to the others - perhaps their arranged transport would at least come in time to pull Taurus out - they couldn’t afford to lose him.<br/><br/>They both winced as the school’s intercom burst suddenly to life around them.<br/><br/>“<em>INTERLOPERS! Interlopers on the school grounds! Students, take shelter - the faculty is more than capable of handling these ruffians! It’s time to show them what we did to invaders in the old days, eh, Barty?”<br/><br/>“Peter, Beacon has never been attacked in all of it’s-”<br/><br/>“NEVER MIND THAT! To arms, Huntsmen and Huntresses! To arms!”</em><br/><br/>The two White Fang members looked silently to one another. The sound of footsteps drew closer.<br/><br/>This mission might have been a bad idea, after all.</p><p> </p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. 2.4 - Thaw, Part Four</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p><b>Beacon Academy, Kingdom of Vale</b><br/><br/>Blake struggled to stop shaking as she pointed her weapon at the Schnee girl - the <em>target, </em>Blake reminded herself <em>-</em> in front of her.<br/><br/>For now, everything was silent, save the muted sounds of gunfire and fighting in the distance. They’d have to get moving, though, if Blake was going to get her out of here.<br/><br/>She tried to be brave, like Adam would have told her. Tried to yell instructions at the weak looking girl. No words came.<br/><br/>The target’s Aura visibly flickered for a moment, and she slumped to the floor, breathing deeply as she continued to meet Blake’s eyes.<br/><br/>The silence seemed to stretch on forever, until Blake made out the target muttering under her breath. She wasn’t even looking at her, anymore, just staring at the ground.<br/><br/>“Please...” Blake whispered. “You need to stand up.”<br/><br/>She didn't want to have to hurt her. She knew Adam would have already grabbed her and pulled her with him, but Blake's feet stayed rooted where they were, and she couldn't move any closer to the girl she was threatening.<br/><br/>“Who…” Weiss wheezed back. She sounded hurt. “Who do you think this is going to help?”<br/><br/>“I…” Blake started to speak, looking out around her. Beacon Tower, the centre of the school that trained the protectors of humans and Faunus, the school that she'd just helped attack ,stood high above her, reaching into the sky.<br/><br/>“I… don’t know.” She admitted, as painful as it was to realise that the days of telling herself otherwise had been delusions, there was no more denying it with the results staring her in the face.<br/><br/>The target looked up at her, ice blue eyes full of regret.<br/><br/>Blake tried to summon some emotion at the sight before her. Disgust, maybe. That’s what Adam would have wanted her to feel.<br/><br/>But as their eyes met, Blake felt… nothing. Nothing, except that same creeping wrongness she’d been feeling for days.<br/><br/>This girl wasn’t her enemy. This girl had never done anything against the Faunus. She had stolen no land, abused no rights, broken no strikes. The only thing that had made the White Fang interested in her had been her last name.<br/><br/>And she was going to… kidnap this girl, all so the White Fang could keep her as a hostage?<br/><br/>Dimly, Blake considered an awful realisation. Standing here, behind a mask, waving her weapon around at the innocent…<br/><br/>She’d never felt less like herself. It was like she was watching someone else’s life - someone awful. Someone she had never wanted to be.<br/><br/>This was wrong, but she didn’t know what to do.<br/><br/>She almost leapt in fright as she heard the sound of footsteps approaching. It was Adam, she realised, and he looked like he was in a hurry.<br/><br/>“Knew I could count on you.” He said with a pride in his voice that might have warmed her heart, otherwise.<br/><br/>Now, it just made her feel tired. This wasn't something she wanted to feel proud of.<br/><br/>There he stood, alone and bloodied, looking over the Schnee.<br/><br/>“We need to go. I’ve called in our transport.” Adam told her.<br/><br/>“W-what about everyone else?” Blake asked. There wasn’t anyone else with him. Had Adam just… left everyone behind?<br/><br/>She thought first of Ilia, wondering what had become of her friend. How loyally she’d followed Adam’s call with the rest of them. And this was how Adam rewarded it. With nothing.<br/><br/>“There isn’t anyone else left. If they haven’t run, they’ve been caught. Now come on. The Huntsmen can’t be far behind.” Adam grunted, grabbing the target - the girl, by her hair. Her Aura depleted, the teenager hissed with pain, and Blake winced at the sound.<br/><br/>She was glad the mask still hid her expression, as much as she suddenly felt that the best thing in the world she could do would be to smash the thing into his face. The force of her sudden feelings made her feel even worse - like there'd been a pressure building up that she'd let herself ignore.<br/><br/>“<em>Get up, </em>Schnee.” Adam growled as he tossed her over his shoulder, gesturing to Blake to follow him.<br/><br/>Blake was silent as she followed him back through the gardens.<br/><br/>---<br/><br/>Professor Port couldn’t deny there was a certain thrill to the miserable occasion, buried beneath the bubbling outrage he felt permeating his being.<br/><br/>These ruffians thought they could attack his Academy, threaten his students? Oh no, that simply wasn’t going to fly.<br/><br/>Barty was off somewhere, zipping around with his usual speed, hunting down the others. The rest of the faculty and many of the students were much the same, he imagined. Peter had rushed out of his class once the sound of gunfire and explosions had sounded through the school, and had only caught a glimpse of his caffeine-soaked colleague once he’d accessed the Academy loudspeaker systems - zipping about with that flamethrower of his.<br/><br/>Port knew he had to be faster than he’d ever been if he hoped to match Barty’s count for interlopers wrangled on this day.<br/><br/>Port had found his quarry easily enough, however. For all that he hadn’t actually done much in the way of field work in years, it was good to see he still had the old instincts as he speedily hopped from roof to roof.<br/><br/>He fumed as he caught sight of the pair, however. They were dawdling around - <em>dawdling</em> around in the school grounds, fumbling for an exit!<br/><br/>The incompetence with which this little raid had been managed was almost as insulting as the raid itself, as far as Port was concerned.<br/><br/>Port leapt from the roof he’d been using to observe this particular pair, falling in what he hoped was a suitably majestic fashion onto the cobbled pathway beneath.<br/><br/>He tried not to groan slightly at the pain in his feet as he rose to face the pair of White Fang scoundrels. Fortunately, it seemed they were suitably impressed.<br/><br/>One of the pair, a red-robed fiend who’d somehow positively coated himself in shards of Ice Dust, fell to the floor immediately.<br/><br/><em>“I surrender, I surrender!”</em> The fool squealed. Port couldn’t help but chuckle.<br/><br/><em>Still got it, Peter. Still got it.</em><br/><br/>As for the other, the vagabond didn’t even have a weapon! He just stood there, cradling his face where it looked like he’d taken a substantial hit at close range.<br/><br/>“Sloppy, losing your weapon like that. Simply sloppy. What do they teach their warriors in the White Fang?” Port chuckled.<br/><br/>The wounded Faunus offered no response, save to raise his bulky fists.<br/><br/>How positively discourteous. Ah well, violence it would be, then.<br/><br/>“Oh, don’t worry. I’m a great proponent of the idea that to truly reach the pinnacle of skill as a combatant, one must first learn by doing!” Port grinned as he rapidly span his weapon around, bearing the axe-edge towards the White Fang fighter.<br/><br/>“Allow me to introduce you to the curriculum.”<br/><br/>---<br/><br/>The transport swooped down over Beacon swiftly - within seconds, the Bullhead’s troop bay had opened, revealing two more warriors with weapons ready to cover their escape.<br/><br/>It was only a matter of seconds before it descended low enough for them to board.<br/><br/>“Do you have any idea how… <em>stupid</em> this all was? Attacking Beacon? You’re only going to make things worse for the Faunus.” Weiss piped up at last, her voice weak, but forceful.<br/><br/>Blake didn’t have anything to say. All Weiss was saying was what Blake had been thinking since Adam had proposed attacking Beacon.<br/><br/>The fact that it was coming from a Schnee; the family that represented all of humanity's crimes against the Faunus, didn't change the horrifying feeling in Blake's core that the girl was completely right.<br/><br/>There was no way this attack could be twisted into a positive light; and that was when Blake realised that was what she'd been doing.<br/><br/>That was what she'd always been doing with Adam; lying to herself - telling herself that no matter how violent Adam could get, he was doing it for the right cause.<br/><br/>Well, as she numbly trailed behind Adam, she couldn't lie to herself anymore.<br/><br/>“Shut up - unless you want us to take your tongue, Schnee.” Adam replied. He sounded delighted with it - delighted with all that had happened so far. He was on the verge of success, after all.<br/><br/>The success of having attacked Beacon Academy, abandoned their brothers and sisters, and having done it all to kidnap a teenager.<br/><br/>“This is wrong. This is wrong, and you know it.” Weiss kept speaking. She didn’t seem afraid like Blake had first thought, Blake noted. She sounded desperate and tired and sad, but not afraid.<br/><br/>“Get on board, Schnee.” Adam nodded in the direction of the transport. In the background, Blake could hear the distant shouts of Huntsmen approaching.<br/><br/>Blake realised that for some reason, Weiss wasn’t speaking to Adam or anyone else. She was speaking to her - looking her straight in the eye.<br/><br/>“Is <em>this</em> what the White Fang was founded for?” Weiss asked her in a strangely gentle tone, raising her voice to be heard over the sound of the Bullhead’s engines.<br/><br/>“My patience is limited, human.” Adam said gruffly, gesturing with Wilt’s blade towards her. Hesitantly, Weiss hopped on, Adam quickly standing over her as they readied to leave.<br/><br/>Blake had been with the White Fang all of her life. She knew the answer.<br/><br/>“HALT!” The cry went out, and all on the Bullhead looked out to the courtyards of Beacon before them.<br/><br/>Dozens of Huntsmen and Huntresses - trainees and teachers alike - emerged to face the bullhead as it gained altitude. From the crowd, a strange set of purple bursts of energy raced across the air, and all in the bullhead did their best to keep their footing as the vehicle openly shook from the strange impacts.<br/><br/>“Yield, or we will open fire!” A stern voice called out from among the crowd, as guns of all description were raised at them.<br/><br/>The protectors of the world, old and young, stood arrayed before them, and Blake had chosen to be their enemy.<br/><br/>“I can’t move, even at full power! Something’s holding us back! What do we do, boss?” The pilot asked Adam with panic in his voice. Was it some kind of Semblance, keeping them fixed in the air?<br/><br/>“I’ll deal with this.” Adam said as he walked to the edge of the open troop bay, the Schnee girl in hand.<br/><br/>“Surrender and avoid further violence, you fiend! You cannot escape!” A portly looking gentlemen barked from among the crowd, wielding a mean-looking blunderbuss in the direction of their thrusters.<br/><br/>Adam’s grin could be heard as he spoke. “Is that so?” He asked in a dangerously whimsical tone.<br/><br/>“You’re piloting a civilian model transport and all of Vale will know of this attack before long. You’ll be drowned in faster aircraft before you get ten miles into the residential district. So, I say again, surrender!” The voice rang out once more.<br/><br/>The seconds stretched out as the two sides stared one another down - the only sound the protests of the whining engines of the Bullhead as the pilot tried impotently to force them free.<br/><br/>Time seemed to drag on and on. It felt like the moment was never going to end.<br/><br/>Weiss once again looked to Blake, and with a sigh, spoke one more time.<br/><br/>“<em>Blake.</em> Please. Don’t do this. This isn’t you.” Weiss pleaded, the name just about piercing the fierce din of the engines.<br/><br/>Blake’s eyes widened. <em>How did she-</em><br/><br/>Blake’s attention was diverted, however, as Adam’s blade drew close to the girl’s throat. With the girl clearly lacking Aura, the slightest pressure would be enough to draw blood.<br/><br/>Of course, there was no way Adam didn’t know this as he held the girl still.<br/><br/>“Let us go or I <em>will</em> kill her.” Adam growled. He pulled up the Schnee by her dyed hair, grinning as she hissed in pain.<br/><br/>“What are you doing!” Blake screamed at him.<br/><br/>This had all gone wrong.<br/><br/>“I am trying to keep us alive!” Adam roared back, quickly turning his head back in the direction of the crowd of Huntsmen before them.<br/><br/>Excuses. More excuses and justifications. More explanations to make her feel small - to make her feel like his was the only way.<br/><br/>Right now, Adam didn’t look like someone fighting to make life better for the Faunus. He just looked like someone who wanted to kill the girl in front of him.<br/><br/>She’d blinded herself, Blake realised. She’d let herself be blinded to everything wrong about what she was doing. She’d walked into all of this willingly - convinced herself that it was all right.<br/><br/>But it wasn’t, no matter how many times she buried the knowledge, she couldn’t hide any more from the fact that nothing about this could ever have been right. Not to her.<br/><br/>She didn't feel like herself, standing here, doing this.<br/><br/>Maybe she wasn't anymore, not really.<br/><br/>“Stand down!” A gruff voice rang out - a woman - tall and commanding amidst the crowd.<br/><br/>“But-”<br/><br/>“<em>Stand down</em>. There have been no deaths yet. We can still avoid bloodshed.” The woman ordered.<br/><br/>Slowly but surely, the guns were lowered, and the pressure on the bullhead lessened. In an instant, they were rushing through the air at speed, the engines screaming. They were away, and they left Beacon Academy behind them.<br/><br/>But Blake didn't feel any relief about that. Instead, she felt like she hadn't escaped anything at all.<br/><br/>---<br/><br/>“We’ve been colleagues for a long time, Glynda. I hope you know what you’re doing, allowing them to escape.” Port grumbled amongst the crowd of Huntsmen and Huntresses watching the Bullhead speed away.<br/><br/>Glynda turned to the professor with a cold glance. “I never said anything about letting them get away.”<br/><br/>She looked to the sky - to the faint impression of a dark-feathered bird, racing through the air.<br/><br/>---<br/><br/>“We’re away, boss! Engines got busted trying to pull us out of that thing, whatever it was, so we’ll have to lower our altitude, but we’re away!” The pilot called out.<br/><br/>“Good. Get us to Forever Fall as soon as you can.” Adam commanded.<br/><br/>It was over.<br/><br/>Even in victory, however, Adam’s blade didn’t leave the Schnee’s throat.<br/><br/>Weiss' eyes opened as the girl looked over at Blake with resignation in her eyes. She looked sorry and finally just a little bit afraid.<br/><br/>Blake breathed heavy breaths as she slumped in the corner, glancing between the Schnee and Adam. She couldn't ignore the heavy feeling in her heart.<br/><br/>They would take the girl to the High Leader next, then. No one would be able to deny Adam’s success. Adam would use this as another example of how his methods worked, Blake knew - of how he achieved results. He’d try and convince her, and it’d work, and she’d leave this Schnee girl to a life of imprisonment, and keep on being someone she didn’t recognise.<br/><br/>That was how it would go, Blake realised. That was how this would always go, unless she took action.<br/><br/>This time, however, as the transport made its way out from Beacon, Blake decided that she didn’t want to see any more of Adam’s results.<br/><br/>Everything felt strangely calm, as Blake made her decision. Things had never quite felt so clear as they had in that moment. Adam was still holding Weiss at swordpoint, but it wasn’t so close even the slightest movement would cause a cut, anymore.<br/><br/>She had her opportunity.<br/><br/>She stood, rushed forwards, and slammed into Adam’s shoulder. He hadn’t been expecting it, and the blow, full with the force of much of Blake’s Aura, was enough to throw Adam’s steady footing off.<br/><br/>“<em>What are you doing?” </em>Adam roared. His voice was all pain and rage and cruelty as he fell back from Blake’s strike, grip loosening on Weiss, allowing the girl to collapse to the floor.<br/><br/>“Ending this!” Blake screamed as she opened fire at the man who’d been her mentor. He deflected every shot, as she’d known he would, Wilt’s blade glowing with increasing intensity, but it forced him into the corner of the troop bay, off-balance and surprised. The other White Fang fighters in the bullhead fell around, thrown off by the sudden violence.<br/><br/>It was enough to give her time to act.<br/><br/>There was no way she’d win in a one-on-one fight.<br/><br/>There weren’t many options. Blake opted for what she felt to be the least bad.<br/><br/>She grabbed Weiss Schnee, pulling her to the edge of the troop bay, and leapt out into the air.<br/><br/>---<br/><br/>Weiss screamed. She was falling. She couldn't see the ground below - only see the skies above them - the smoke trail of the crippled Bullhead leaving them behind as they fell.<br/><br/>In the few seconds she had to think, she realised that this might have been it. Blake had enough Aura - Weiss didn’t have much.<br/><br/>Weiss just hoped that she’d done enough to help. She thought of Ruby, Blake, and Yang.<br/><br/>She hoped they all lived well.<br/><br/>Blake was holding on tight to her as they fell - trying to take the brunt of the fall, Weiss thought.<br/><br/>In the last moments before they struck <em>something</em> together, Weiss reached out, took Blake’s hand, and squeezed tight.<br/><br/>---<br/><br/><em>“High Leader.”<br/><br/>“What is it?”<br/><br/>“News from Vale - Beacon has been attacked… and it looks like the White Fang were responsible.”<br/><br/>“What? Show me.<br/><br/>“...”<br/><br/>“Get me Taurus. Now.”</em><br/><br/>---<br/><br/><b>???????</b><br/><br/><em>Weiss opened her eyes, taking deep, panicked breaths at the sudden brightness around her.<br/><br/>“Blake?” She asked, looking around. Everything still hurt, and looking around was an ordeal.<br/><br/>Blake wasn’t there, but it let Weiss get a better look at where she was.<br/><br/>At first, she thought maybe she was somewhere covered in snow, but there was no definition - no detail to the place. Just an endless nothingness.<br/><br/>She remembered this place, or something like it. It wasn’t somewhere she associated with good memories.<br/><br/>A nightmare, then.<br/><br/>Frankly, Weiss was getting tired of nightmares. Even when she was awake, they seemed to just love chasing her.<br/><br/>Silence greeted her. No Grimm approached, no friends died around her. Just silence.<br/><br/>Suddenly, flames burst around her. The room darkened as shadows clung to the flames. The wind around them picked up - all surrounding her. The air smelled faintly of roses.<br/><br/>Weiss sighed. This was going to be a new sort of nightmare, it seemed. She slumped back to the ‘ground’.<br/><br/>She thought of the attack… Had she done the right thing, speaking out to Blake? How did she know where any of these changes would take her or the world?<br/><br/>“I don’t know if I’m making the right choices.” Weiss whispered to herself, groaning as every part of her seemed to ache.<br/><br/>She thought of her first mistakes - her first, manic decisions. She thought about Winter. Her heart ached.<br/><br/>She’d promised then not to make any more mistakes. Weiss hoped she hadn’t.<br/><br/>“It’s just… I miss them... so much.” Weiss said to the emptiness around her.<br/><br/>At that, the sensations around her took on further definition. She felt a faint warmth - a familiar warmth, holding her hands gently.<br/><br/>“Wake up, dear Huntress.” The memories around her spoke. “You’re not dead yet.”<br/></em></p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. 2.5 - Thaw, Part Five</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p><b>Residential District, Kingdom of Vale</b><br/><br/>Qrow rushed through the air as hurriedly as he could when shifted into his bird form. Normally, a Bullhead would be far faster than he could ever be, but this one was damaged, trailing smoke as it slowly rushed across the skyline of Vale. Glynda had done a number on it, holding it in place while they tried to make them surrender, and before they’d been realised, the moron of a pilot had just stressed his engines trying to pull out of the professor’s telekinetic grip.<br/><br/>That meant he had a chance to keep up and find Weiss before they landed somewhere presumably full of White Fang. He was a good fighter, but with Harbinger slagged, he didn’t exactly fancy his chances against an entire base. It wasn’t as if luck was on his side.<br/><br/>He’d messed up - hadn’t thought she’d miss Glynda in the gardens - hadn’t expected that little bit of bad luck at the worst possible moment - but he wasn’t gonna mess up now.<br/><br/>Shifting was always a strange experience. He’d gotten used to it, over the years.<br/><br/>At first the strange instincts of his other form were a little confusing to get used to, but now, they were as natural as walking.<br/><br/>Qrow drew closer to the smoking craft - there was no way they were getting out of the city at this speed, but that just meant it was more likely Weiss would get hurt if it got these White Fang out. He needed to be quick.<br/><br/>Shifting back into human shape, Qrow grabbed onto the edge of the troop bay, pulling himself into the damaged aircraft, scowling at what he saw.<br/><br/>Weiss wasn’t there.<br/><br/>Unfortunately, the asshole with the sword was, along with two more of his masked thugs, holding on as the Bullhead shook.<br/><br/>Where Weiss was, he didn’t have a clue. But he didn’t exactly think these White Fang would let their prize go so easily. She had to have escaped somehow.<br/><br/>“<em>Where is she?” </em>Qrow snarled at the lot of them.<br/><br/>“You!” The masked swordsman roared, rushing at Qrow with his sword in hand.<br/><br/>Qrow easily intercepted the lazy strike, before punching the idiot in the gut, watching him fall to the Bullhead’s floor, groaning.<br/><br/>He turned over to one of the others. They looked shocked - he supposed appearing out of nowhere on a moving aircraft and knocking over their boss with nothing but his fists was a little intimidating.<br/><br/>“The girl. Where is she?” Qrow yelled at the pair.<br/><br/>They looked nervously to their leader, now slumped in the corner.<br/><br/>Qrow moved over and grabbed one of the White Fang fighters. “Don’t look at him. Tell me, where’s the Schnee kid?”<br/><br/>“<em>Belladonna grabbed her! </em>Jumped out, alright? I don’t know where she went!” The masked Faunus squealed.<br/><br/>“Belladonna, huh?” Qrow muttered to himself, letting the Faunus slump to the floor, arms raised in surrender.<br/><br/>Unfortunately, it’d have to be up to the cops to arrest this bunch. Qrow had places to be, if Weiss wasn’t here.<br/><br/>“Never mind, then.” Qrow huffed, before leaping out of the Bullhead.<br/><br/>For the second time in a week, he had a city to search.<br/><br/>---<br/><br/>Consciousness was slow to return for Weiss. For a while, she had the vague impression that she was being dragged somewhere, then set down, but everything felt… distant.<br/><br/>And then, all of a sudden, there she was, lying back against a wall.<br/><br/>There was a Faunus girl sat across from her. Young, dark haired, cat ears flat against her hooded head.<br/><br/>Weiss blinked as she took in the sight before her. The girl looked familiar. She almost looked like-<br/><br/>Like Blake. Just younger, and in a White Fang uniform, her amber eyes hesitantly looking out towards her from underneath the hood.<br/><br/>Weiss scratched at her scalp as she remembered how she’d got here.<br/><br/>She remembered an attack - the White Fang, at Beacon. She’d ran and they’d caught her. And then...<br/><br/>Blake had saved her life, Weiss realised. It was enough to make her laugh with joy. Blake was here - she’d saved her, but… how had they-<br/><br/>Right. They’d fallen out of the Bullhead, and Weiss had…<br/><br/>Well, that dream was something to think about another time. Blake took the priority, right now.<br/><br/>And there she was, sitting across from her. They were in some kind of back alley filled with fresh snow. It was cold, but it also meant that no one was probably going to bother them. The sun was clearly just starting to set, going by the dimming light in the sky above them.<br/><br/>“Where are we?” She asked Blake. The girl’s cat ears flinched as the sound of sirens rang out in the distance.<br/><br/>“Not sure.” The other girl muttered. She wasn’t looking at Weiss, anymore. She was looking at the mask held in her shaking hands. “Someplace quiet. Had to drag you. Sorry. Your Aura was so low…”<br/><br/>Weiss sat back for a moment, thinking to herself. Her Aura didn’t feel too low anymore, which was good. Even if she wasn’t expecting a fight, it was comforting to feel it return.<br/><br/>They sat there for a while. Weiss still needed to breathe, as well as think over her words - what she wanted to do.<br/><br/>Blake was…<br/><br/>Blake was crying, softly to herself. Weiss’ heart hurt at the sound.<br/><br/>She wanted to help her more than anything. Thinking about Blake, about where she’d ended up, about how Weiss had few ways of actually helping her… that had been one of the hardest things to think about in the institute.<br/><br/>But now Blake was here, right in front of her. She wasn’t not going to try.<br/><br/>Eventually, Weiss tried to stand. Everything hurt - limbs, body, everything. But she was able to get up and walk over to the other girl’s corner of the alley.<br/><br/>Blake’s eyes turned back from the mask to Weiss, and she looked up at Weiss with a nervous expression, like she was expecting Weiss to attack or something. She was shivering.<br/><br/>Weiss tried to avoid thinking of how Blake flinched as she drew close, or how her hand went instinctively towards Gambol Shroud, the twin blades resting beside her. Weiss was careful to slowly approach, trying her best not to panic her.<br/><br/>She might have rescued her, but Weiss had to remember that Blake didn’t know her - didn’t know what to expect. That… wasn’t easy to deal with. Just like when she’d met Ruby and Yang here, it was sometimes difficult to handle the emotions. Right now, Weiss struggled not to reach down and hug the girl.<br/><br/>“Here.” Weiss said, taking off her coat and offering it to the Faunus girl.<br/><br/>“What?” Blake asked, dumbstruck. She was looking at the coat like it was a bomb.<br/><br/>“It’ll keep you warm. You’ll be cold if you take that jacket off, and you can’t exactly go out in the street with a White Fang uniform on.” Weiss told her.<br/><br/>Blake looked back up at her from the coat, eyes glistening. “Why are you doing this?”<br/><br/>“What?” Weiss asked.<br/><br/>“Talking to me, giving me your coat. I… I just helped <em>kidnap</em> you.” Blake rasped tearfully.<br/><br/>“You <em>also</em> helped rescue me. And… you looked cold.” Weiss replied earnestly, continuing to hold out the coat, even as her hand started shaking lightly in the cold. There was so much else she wanted to say, but she held back.<br/><br/>“I’m a Faunus. I’m a member of the White Fang. You’re… you’re...” '<em>A Schnee'</em> went unsaid.<br/><br/>Weiss tried not to wince at that. Right now, she didn’t see it as much of an obstacle, but she had to admit, the person she’d remembered being…<br/><br/>That person wouldn’t have even considered being pleasant to Blake, once upon a time.<br/><br/>But that wasn’t now. That didn’t matter. That wasn’t her anymore. And of all the many monsters among the White Fang, Blake hadn’t been one of them.<br/><br/>Weiss smiled sadly. “Trust me. My opinion of the Faunus is far higher than my opinion of my family’s company, right now.”<br/><br/>Blake stared at the coat in Weiss’ hand for a moment, looking between it and the girl.<br/><br/>Beneath the hood, amber eyes blinked at her, surprised. “You’re… not what I was expecting.”<br/><br/>“In a good way?” Weiss asked, smiling nervously.<br/><br/>“They said you were crazy. You don’t seem…” Blake trailed off.<br/><br/>“Oh,” Weiss replied, rubbing at her aching head, “I’d wait a while before you say that.”<br/><br/>Hesitantly, slowly, Blake accepted the folded up coat, tossing the mask into the snow, before looking back at Weiss.<br/><br/>Blake pulled the hood down, revealing her face fully to Weiss for the first time.<br/><br/>Avoiding the immediate instinct to grin at how absolutely adorable Blake looked was… difficult. She looked like a tinier version of the girl she remembered, which, Weiss supposed, she was.<br/><br/>“You’re just a kid.” Weiss couldn’t help but exclaim. She’d known that Blake had been with the White Fang for a long time, of course, but she looked so young, even if she was still the same age as Weiss, give or take a few months.<br/><br/>Blake’s sad expression turned into an incredulous scowl. “<em>You’re </em>just a kid!”<br/><br/>Before Weiss could apologise herself, the girl’s ears flattened and her expression turned pale. “I’m sorry…<em> I’m sorry…</em>”<br/><br/>Weiss frowned. It hurt to see Blake like this, so… not herself. “It’s alright. I know you didn’t mean anything. I just… haven’t really felt like a kid for a while.” Weiss sighed.<br/><br/>It was disturbing to consider. Blake was younger than Ruby had been when she went to Beacon, and she’d still been taken on an operation against trained Huntsmen.<br/><br/>Thinking about that made Weiss angry.<br/><br/>“I don’t know what I feel like, right now. I don't know what to do.” The girl muttered quietly to herself, rubbing at her eyes.<br/><br/>Weiss nodded. She knew how that felt. Blake had stuck with the White Fang for years. She’d just abandoned everything that had defined her life up until that moment. Weiss knew she needed to be careful with what she said.<br/><br/>She offered the Faunus a hand to help her up.<br/><br/>“Do you think maybe a cup of tea would help?”<br/><br/>---<br/><br/><em>“High Leader, I-”<br/><br/>“Silence. Clearly entrusting you with this duty was a mistake on my part. Perhaps the worst I’ve ever made, given the scale of your failures. Do you understand what it is you’ve done?”<br/><br/>“I only sought to follow your commands, High Leader, and follow in your example.”<br/><br/>“I told you to find Weiss Schnee. You not only failed in your task, you did so in a manner that has utterly compromised the position we’ve built up. Already, three Kingdoms have announced talks over mutual defensive measures against White Fang attacks. With this failure, you’ve threatened to erase the respect we’ve sought to create!”<br/><br/>“I was betrayed! Belladonna stole our prize at the moment of triumph. If it wasn’t-”<br/><br/>“I have no interest in hypotheticals, right now, Adam. I’m too busy dealing with the madness you have threatened to unleash upon the Faunus. Weiss Schnee no longer matters.”<br/><br/>“Let the humans come! We are more than capable of-”<br/><br/>“Clearly, you’ve not learned from your attack on Beacon. We will no longer be facing mere SDC security and defense drones. We will no longer be the ones on the offensive. We will be fighting the finest Huntsmen and Huntresses from all of the Kingdoms because of you, unless we find a way to avoid war with the humans.”<br/><br/>“You can’t seriously be considering capitulation, High Leader. You’ve always argued against submission to the humans-”<br/><br/>“I’ve also counselled against open war with the humans. A war you may well have started. If giving you to them is what it takes to save the Faunus, believe me, Adam, I am more than willing to make that sacrifice.”<br/><br/>“You would just hand me over to the humans?”<br/><br/>“Disavowing your operation would do much to recover the White Fang’s damaged reputation. Either way, I’m ordering you to return to Mistral to await punishment. Your actions today might have set our cause back for a generation.”<br/><br/>“And if I refuse to surrender?”<br/><br/>“You will follow my orders, Adam, or you will be treated as an enemy of the White Fang. You will surrender, or your punishment shall only grow more severe every day that you remain free.”<br/><br/>“...”<br/><br/>“You will surrender, Adam.”<br/><br/>“...I don’t think I’m the enemy of the White Fang today, Sienna. Instead, I’m beginning to think it’s you who has lost your way.”<br/><br/>“... I have been far too lax with you, Taurus, encouraging this… madness. We will hunt you.”<br/><br/>“Oh, I’m counting on it.”</em><br/><br/>---<br/><br/><b>Patch, Kingdom of Vale</b><br/><br/>“Hey, Yang!” Ruby called out as Yang got back into the house from school. There’d been a few things at school she’d hung back for, and Ruby had got home a few hours ahead of her.<br/><br/>Ruby was sitting on the couch, eyes fixed to the television as Yang walked in. Something about Vale was on the news.<br/><br/>“What’s happening over in Vale?” Yang asked with a yawn, rubbing at her tired eyes as she set her backpack down, the newsreader speaking echoing in the background.<br/><br/>“The White Fang attacked Beacon, but they got their butts kicked by a bunch of the Huntsmen there." Ruby explained with a hint of eagerness creeping into her voice.<br/><br/>She was always up for listening to news about Huntsmen and Huntresses doing just about anything, so, if the news was ever on in the Xiao Long household, chances were it was because some Huntsman had taken down a goliath with a chainsaw-minigun or something and Ruby had a new kind of weapon to obsess over.<br/><br/>“Huh.” That was definitely… odd. She’d never heard of the White Fang attacking a Huntsman Academy before. Didn’t really sound like the brightest idea.<br/><br/>“...Wasn't Weiss going to Beacon?” Ruby added quietly afterwards, the sudden energy in her eyes vanishing in a painfully familiar way, "D'you think she's alright?"<br/><br/>Yang could see Zwei cuddled up next to her sister on the couch, and Yang could see how Ruby was petting the dog nervously.<br/><br/>Their encounter with Weiss had been days ago now, and Ruby, well, Ruby didn’t have many friends. Weiss had been around long enough for Ruby to form something of an attachment to her. She didn’t really find many people who were exactly on her wavelength in Patch, and there was no way her sister would forget someone she could speak to about weapons for more than five minutes and who’d still want to talk to her afterwards, much less someone who'd fallen unconscious on their doorstep and claimed to be a time traveler.<br/><br/>“Well, I’m sure she’s alright, Ruby. She’s probably why Uncle Qrow still isn’t back in Patch after he picked her up.” Yang assured her, setting herself down on the couch next to Ruby and placing a gentle hand on Ruby's shoulder.<br/><br/>This was something she was used to, and even though she felt tired out from a long day and wanted nothing better than to just curl up in bed for a while, Yang found herself easily settling into the familiar role. Ruby needed her right now, and Yang was always going to be there for her sister. She could think about herself later.<br/><br/>“Yeah,” Ruby whispered. “Probably, right?”<br/><br/>Yang sighed. That hadn’t helped. Her sister still missed Qrow, especially given how excited she was to learn about how to use scythes from him.<br/><br/>Fortunately, she had one last card to play, and it was just the thing to distract her sister of all people<br/><br/>“Hey, though," Yang said quietly, smiling as Ruby turned to face her, "guess what I brought back from Signal?”<br/><br/>Ruby’s eyes immediately lit up, her worries temporarily cast aside. “Really?”<br/><br/>“Yep.” Yang grinned.<br/><br/>“<em>Letmeseeletmeseeletmesee!”</em> Ruby squealed as she bounced off the couch towards Yang, who pulled two yellow-painted gauntlets out of her bag.<br/><br/>It was a bandage, Yang knew; a distraction. But there wasn’t much more she could do to help Ruby’s worries.<br/><br/>The pair laughed together as they fawned over Yang’s new weapons. They were a little heavy to hold still, but they already felt more right than any other weapon she’d tried to use before.<br/><br/>Still, all the while, Yang did hope Weiss was okay. She’d had more than enough bad stuff happen to her already, by the sound of things. If she was still with Uncle Qrow, though, she knew there was no way he’d let her get hurt.<br/><br/>---<br/><br/><b>Residential District, Kingdom of Vale</b><br/><br/>They walked together in the street for a while, after that. Weiss was warm enough with her sweater and scarf, and Blake didn’t seem too cold in Weiss’ coat. They'd left her mask and uniform back in the alleyway, and nobody spared too many glances for the two dark-haired girls walking through the streets.<br/><br/>They didn’t really speak much. Finding the right words was… difficult. It didn’t help that the both of them weren’t exactly in the best shape. Weiss wasn’t exactly limping, but she looked forward to the prospect of somewhere to sit and take a breath.<br/><br/>She could feel the awkward glances the Faunus girl was giving her as they walked the streets of Vale. They were somewhere in the Residential District, Weiss thought. Not too far from Beacon, but they’d still need to find a pick up if-<br/><br/>Well, first, she had to see what Blake wanted to do. She wanted to help her, but she also knew that the Blake she remembered hadn’t left the White Fang until years later.<br/><br/>If she wanted to return to them… Weiss didn’t know what she’d say.<br/><br/>She knew Blake, but she also knew that this wasn’t her Blake - not the one she remembered. Talking wasn’t as easy. She was just Weiss Schnee, and her name represented everything Blake had been fighting against all of her life, even if she was a family disgrace.<br/><br/>Still, it was good to see her again, all the same.<br/><br/>Eventually, they found a guy in a van selling tea and coffee, and sat back on a secluded rooftop, cradling steaming cups. It was quiet, which was good. Helped them both think.<br/><br/>---<br/><br/>They’d been quiet for a while up on the rooftop. Things had been…<br/><br/>Well, things had been getting worse. They could hear people, down in the street, discussing the news as they walked past their rooftop.<br/><br/>Some parts of Vale were in a frenzy - the attack on Beacon, pathetic as it had been, had still been enough to light the fires of resentment. Humans were rioting against the Faunus, the Faunus were rioting against the humans, and the authorities didn’t seem to know what to do.<br/><br/>Blake looked down into the street. A TV in a shop’s display showed a news report prominently.<br/><br/>‘<em>White Fang attack on Beacon - Motivation unknown - Possible connection to Schnee search?'</em><br/><br/>Weiss couldn't ignore how Blake’s ears once again flattened close to her head.<br/><br/>“This wasn’t your fault.” Weiss told her. She doubted a 14 year old had masterminded the entire operation by herself, and by the sounds of it, Adam Taurus had always had a dangerous way of manipulating others.<br/><br/>Besides, Weiss noted with a hint of shame, it wouldn’t have happened at all if she hadn’t been there. If she hadn’t made herself known by fighting the White Fang with her Semblance in the first place.<br/><br/>She wasn’t sure she would have done differently on the way to Patch, but it stung all the same.<br/><br/>Blake rubbed at her eyes. She was still in shock, Weiss could tell. Still stunned by how suddenly her life had changed completely.<br/><br/>“It’s alright.” Weiss said, hesitantly placing a hand on the Faunus girl’s shoulder.<br/><br/>The girl looked over at her. She still looked a little shocked that Weiss was even talking to her, but the main emotion written on her face was shame.<br/><br/>“It’s not alright, though." Blake told her. "I only stopped at the last second. I ignored everything that was wrong about it until then. And now... I don't know what I'm going to do.” Blake muttered back, shaking her head as she hugged her knees.<br/><br/>Weiss didn’t say anything. There wasn’t much she felt she could say that felt right.<br/><br/>Sitting back, Weiss groaned. Everything still ached, and she was starting to feel spacey again. The world felt just a little more distant - a little fainter. The only thing that kept her in the moment at some points seemed to be the dull pain. Even with Blake seeming to have kept her from getting too hurt in their landing, almost everything felt a little bruised.<br/><br/>“Are you okay?” Blake asked, sounding concerned.<br/><br/>“It’s alright. Just… I’m on some medication that’s making things a little… weird right now.” Weiss explained. It was probably just that. With her Aura slowly replenishing, even if that was <em>very</em> slowly thanks to the drugs, she didn’t think she had any major injuries from the landing worth worrying about right now.<br/><br/>“Oh.” Blake said, clearly remembering that Weiss had, after all broken out of a mental institute.<br/><br/>“It’s alright. I just needed to get weaned off a few things after… well, I’m sure you heard.”<br/><br/>Blake looked apologetic as she nodded. “Yeah. Is it… bad?”<br/><br/>“... Yes.” Weiss said distantly. “Sometimes I just get caught up in memories.”<br/><br/>Right now, she couldn’t help but think of the night she’d found out Blake had been a member of the White Fang. The things she’d said, afterwards.<br/><br/>It was difficult to stay in the moment, to remember which conversation she was having, but Weiss had to try. She couldn’t let her past mess this up.<br/><br/>“Why… Why are you staying with me?” Blake asked, looking nervously at Weiss sat beside her.<br/><br/>“And what? Leave you out here by yourself?” Weiss asked, gesturing to the cold rooftop around them.<br/><br/>“Generally speaking, people do tend to leave their ex-kidnappers alone, yes.” Blake said with the faintest hint of a bemused smile.<br/><br/>“Well… I just don’t want to leave you here. Not until you’ve told me you’ve got somewhere to go. Somewhere safe, after what’s happened.” Weiss told her.<br/><br/>“Besides,” Weiss added, letting herself relax against the concrete. “I think I might pass out if I try to move much more today.”<br/><br/>The Faunus girl nodded at that, withdrawing into her thoughts as she took another sip of tea.<br/><br/>“I don’t know what I’m going to do.” Blake whispered again.<br/><br/>“Well, looks like I’m going to keep sitting here, then.” Weiss replied, smiling sadly.<br/><br/>Things were quiet after that, for a little bit. Weiss was thinking carefully over what she should say.<br/><br/>“Weiss…” Blake asked quietly, after a while, the name sounding unfamiliar on her lips. She wasn’t crying, anymore, and the tea definitely seemed to have warmed her up. She seemed a little more focused - as if she’d remembered something that puzzled her.<br/><br/>“Yes?” Weiss replied.<br/><br/>“How… how did you know my name, back up there?” Blake asked.<br/><br/>Weiss blinked at Blake.<br/><br/>Oh, right. She remembered now, sighing. The transport.<br/><br/><em>Well, time to sound like a crazy person...</em><br/><br/>As with Yang and Ruby, secrecy wasn’t really something Weiss was considering. Weiss didn’t do that to people she trusted - people she cared about. Blake might have been in a bad place, right now, but Weiss knew that she was still a good person, and Weiss wasn’t going to start trying to earn Blake’s trust with lies.<br/><br/>“That’s… a very long story.”<br/><br/>---<br/><br/><b>Forever Fall, Kingdom of Vale</b><br/><br/>Adam grimaced as he sat within his unit’s makeshift command centre, bandaging his shoulder as the wound pulsed with pain, his slowly-replenishing Aura finally beginning to properly heal the cut.<br/><br/>Their transport hadn’t made it - Vale police had brought it down somewhere over downtown Vale. But, once again, he’d escaped, and made it to Forever Fall by the evening after a pickup from his unit.<br/><br/>He was shaking with rage as he tended to his wounds. Blake had, after all he’d done for her, after all she’d led him to believe, betrayed <em>everything</em> they stood for. She’d not simply betrayed the White Fang or the Faunus with what she did, saving that Schnee. She’d betrayed him.<br/><br/>He’d have to find time to plan his revenge later, however. Footsteps trudged through the grass outside of his tent. Three, by the sounds of it.<br/><br/>Adam clutched Wilt and Blush, holding the weapon close. His last communication with Sienna had shown their so-called High Leader's true colours.<br/><br/>He supposed it was only going to be a matter of time before Sienna simply decided to contact his subordinates; hand them their marching orders like good little slaves.<br/><br/>Unfortunately for her, Adam Taurus wasn’t going down without a fight.<br/><br/>“Uh, sir?” The first started as the trio entered the tent.<br/><br/>“Report.” Adam commanded gruffly, speaking as if he didn’t already know exactly why they’d come.<br/><br/>“We’ve, uh… been asked to take you in by the High Leader.” The Faunus explained nervously. None of them had unholstered their weapons, however.<br/><br/>Adam grinned, concealing the pain he felt as he turned to them, Wilt and Blush in hand.<br/><br/>“And?” He asked them.<br/><br/>The three figures looked between themselves silently for a moment, nodding together, after a moment. Then, they knelt before him.<br/><br/>“What do you want us to do?” The leader asked.<br/><br/>Adam’s grin grew. He was only a commander of one unit among many - a few hundred Faunus who had served with him for years. Some would turn against him and remain loyal to Khan, undoubtedly. They would be dealt with swiftly enough.<br/><br/>But Sienna hadn’t counted on one thing - he might not have yet been master of the White Fang in Vale, but across the world, there were many who had heard his name and held to his way of doing things.<br/><br/>They would come in very useful.<br/><br/>“We have work to do. First, we’ll need to find a new camp - somewhere Khan’s allies won’t be able to locate. Then...” He began.<br/><br/>It would be a long war ahead of them, but he was prepared to do what was necessary for the Faunus.<br/><br/>“I have a message for our people.”</p><p> </p><p> </p>
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<a name="section0011"><h2>11. 2.6 - Thaw, Part Six</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p><b>Residential District, Vale</b><br/><br/>“So, there you have it.” Weiss said at the conclusion of her story. Blake had sat there across from her, listening, while Weiss spoke for what felt like hours, but really had to have been far less. The sun still hadn’t set, even if half of the sky was already darkening.<br/><br/>There had been so much she hadn’t gotten into - things that could be explained later, if Blake still wanted to hear. Just the proof that Weiss knew who she was and how they’d met in that remembered past had been enough to make the Schnee feel exhausted trying to get her tale right. Talking about what came after… she wasn’t sure she had the strength right now to revisit that again; not here.<br/><br/>As for Blake, the Faunus girl’s expression had lost much of the open grief that clouded it, and for much of the story she’d been eyeing the Schnee opposite her with a guarded, curious expression.<br/><br/>For a while, there was silence, the two girls’ eyes glancing at each other, as the Faunus seemed to be thinking things over. The only sound to be heard was the noise of the city around them; the wind and the gently falling snow.<br/><br/>Weiss just hoped she’d said the right things. She hoped so much that everything seemed to ache as she waited on Blake to respond. If she’d done things wrong, Blake would think she really was mad, and then…<br/><br/>Well, as much as Weiss didn’t want to think about the prospect, she wasn’t sure she’d blame her for leaving.<br/><br/>“So,” Blake reasoned, her voice quiet and hoarse, “That’s why Headmaster Ozpin didn’t tell anyone he'd found you.”<br/><br/>“...You believe me?” Weiss asked her, voice filled with desperate hope. Blake believed her. <em>Blake believed her.</em><br/><br/>Blake shrugged lightly. “I’m… I’m not sure.” The Faunus remarked. “But… it would explain everything you know. You recognised me, back on the Bullhead, even with a mask on. You know my weapon by name. You know where I come from, the names of my parents…”<br/><br/>Blake shook her head. “I can’t think of anything else that would explain it. Especially since you were locked up all this time…” Blake trailed off, before she seemed to realise something, looking back at Weiss. “Wait, was that because you remembered the future?” She asked.<br/><br/>Weiss sighed, looking off into the distant sky. The biting cold wasn’t enough to drain her Aura, but it was enough to keep her in the here and now. Enough to explain the details without being too overwhelmed by the emotions she remembered feeling so vividly.<br/><br/>“It’s…” Weiss explained quietly. “A little more complicated than that. I did things, <em>because</em> of what I remembered.”<br/><br/>She had to get it out now, or she wouldn’t be able to finish. She had to get through it. She didn't want to keep all of this bottled up to herself anymore.<br/><br/>“Waking up, eight years old with another eleven years of memories stuffed inside my head, remembering what… <em>that man</em> did, would do, I… tried to do the right thing. I used my Semblance and I…”<br/><br/>Weiss laughed. It wasn’t a happy sound. “I tried to arrest him.”<br/><br/>Weiss shivered, remembering just how hard she’d <em>screamed</em> down the halls of the Schnee mansion that day. She remembered how she’d tried so hard to explain but no one had listened, no one had understood how they weren’t here, <em>why weren’t they here with her-</em><br/><br/>Weiss blinked frantically, rubbing at the corners of her eyes. Not here, not now. She didn’t want to think of that.<br/><br/>“I didn’t last long before someone stopped me.” She finished curtly.<br/><br/>She tried not to think about what she’d felt that day. That wasn’t important right now, Weiss told herself. She had to stay here.<br/><br/>Weiss’ eyes closed for a moment, trying desperately to think of anything other than that day. Something that made her feel warm in this damn cold.<br/><br/>Faintly, Weiss’ hand reached out, imagined the grip of another’s gloved hand in her own. For a second, it almost felt real.<br/><br/>“You tried to <em>arrest</em> your father?” Blake asked, recapturing Weiss’ attention, bringing her back to reality. She sounded incredulous, and if Weiss wasn’t imagining it, just a little impressed.<br/><br/>“That… wasn’t how everyone else interpreted it. I wasn’t exactly coherent, not for a long time after the first day.” Weiss replied faintly. “After that, he locked me away where I couldn’t embarrass the family with my… <em>delusions</em>, anymore.”<br/><br/>Weiss took a deep breath. She had to stay calm. This wasn’t easy to talk about. Any of it, really. But if it meant Blake might trust her, it was worth it.<br/><br/>“I’m sorry.” Blake muttered. “That… that sounds like it was… bad.”<br/><br/>“They tried to tell me I was crazy. They tried to fix me, make me what my father wanted me to be.”<br/><br/>She <em>had</em> been broken, when she’d gone into that place. Maybe even crazy. But it hadn’t been the doctors who’d fixed her. She’d had to do that herself.<br/><br/>“The one thing that got me through it…” Weiss finished, looking over directly at Blake. It was impossible not to smile at the sight of her now. “Was remembering my friends.”<br/><br/>Blake went still, staring straight at her with a look that emanated disquiet.<br/><br/>“Friends?” Blake repeated. The word sounded foreign on her lips.<br/><br/>Weiss nodded. “I won’t deny it. I remember how I was… pretty awful to you at first. When we met, before… I was the heiress to the Schnee Dust Company, and you were… well, we both didn’t always get along.” She explained, regret filling her tone.<br/><br/>“But things changed.” Blake remarked, sounding a little disbelieving. The Schnee family were, after all, the mortal enemies to the Faunus above any other humans. To be told that she could be friends with an heiress to the SDC must have been a little hard to believe.<br/><br/>“They did.” Weiss replied with a nod.<br/><br/>“And we were friends.” Blake said.<br/><br/>Weiss blinked. “Yes.”<br/><br/>“Friends?” Blake asked, clearly trying to get at something that was going over Weiss’ head.<br/><br/>“...Yes?” Weiss hesitantly repeated.<br/><br/>“Friends like…?” Blake mused, trailing off as she looked at Weiss with a strange look in her eyes.<br/><br/>Weiss looked at Blake quizzically. What was that supposed to-<br/><br/><em>Oh.</em><br/><br/>“N-no, <em>not like that!”</em> Weiss spluttered nervously. She cradled her face in her hands, hoping the Faunus girl didn’t notice the fierce redness that suddenly overtook her pale features.<br/><br/>“Not that you’re not… <em>I just never</em>…” Weiss went on, struggling to try not to insult the girl sat across from her.<br/><br/>The tears were drying on Blake’s face as the Faunus girl flashed a faint smirk at Weiss’ rambling, though the look was quickly replaced with more of the same guilt from earlier.<br/><br/>“Is that why you tried to help me? Because you remember me being your friend?” Blake asked.<br/><br/>Eventually, most of the blush subsided, and Weiss looked back thoughtfully at the Faunus.<br/><br/>“Well, I won’t say it didn’t help motivate me.” Weiss clarified with a hesitant smile. “It was also because I know you’re a good person, Blake. I knew you wouldn’t think what happened was right. I wanted to help you.”<br/><br/>Blake nodded at that, frowning slightly, and said no more. It was understandable, Weiss supposed. She’d have a hard time thinking of what she’d say in Blake’s position to all of this.<br/><br/>“So, what exactly are you doing with Ozpin?” Blake asked, quickly changing the topic that both of them clearly didn’t know what to do with.<br/><br/>Weiss looked outward with a sigh, at the city around them, to the distant view of Beacon Tower cutting into the sky. It was difficult to sum it all up, really. She was trying to do an awful lot of things, Weiss considered. Ruby had always been better at phrasing the dramatic mission statements, she thought.<br/><br/>“Well, if things go to plan? Save the world, or at least, stop things from getting worse,”<br/><br/>Blake was quiet. She looked away, clearly thinking over her response.<br/><br/>“It’s all a lot to take in.” She said after a few moments.<br/><br/>Weiss nodded, hesitantly. She hoped so much that she hadn’t messed this up, that she’d said the right things. Everything felt unsteady as she kept looking back over at Blake.<br/><br/>“I know it’s a lot. But even if I haven’t told you everything, I wasn’t going to lie to you.” Weiss assured her.<br/><br/>Blake looked her in the eyes. It was a sorry look, but the girl said nothing back.<br/><br/>“So,” Weiss said, breaking the silence, “What will you do now?”<br/><br/>“I don’t know what I’m going to do,” Blake remarked, wiping away the tears at the corners of her eyes. “I… I need time to think things over. Everything feels… off. I don’t feel like I can trust half the thoughts in my head, right now. I need to figure out what I think is right.”<br/><br/>“Do you… have anywhere to go?” Weiss asked her.<br/><br/>The girl shook her head, her expression looking hurt. “No… I can’t go back to the White Fang. And… there isn’t anyone else.”<br/><br/>“Well, if you need somewhere to hunker down, you could… come with me?” Weiss asked, and Blake's eyes focused back on her with a hint of pity.<br/><br/>“Just for a while,” She added hurriedly, “While you… get your bearings. Ozpin’s bound to find another place for me to hide once this is over, and you’d be safe there. No one would get in your way if you wanted to leave at any point.”<br/><br/>Blake’s sorry look only grew sorrier.<br/><br/>“I’m not your friend, Weiss.” Blake told her with a sad sort of bluntness to her tone. The words weren’t unexpected - Weiss had expected far worse from someone who’d been willing to kidnap her a day ago, but coming from Blake, they still hurt to hear.<br/><br/>Weiss took a deep breath, forcing herself to keep talking. She couldn't break down now, not when she'd always known things would be like this.<br/><br/>“I know.” Weiss conceded, rubbing at her eyes. Tears, warm and wet were running down her cheeks. “But I still want to help you.”<br/><br/>Blake sighed. She looked around them - at the snow surrounding them that only looked to get thicker. Curled in on herself, hugging her knees and keeping her head low, she looked afraid in a way that reminded Weiss just how young she really was.<br/><br/>“Alright.” Blake muttered, nodding at Weiss. “I think… After what you’ve told me, I think I can trust you. I’ll stay with you, until I can… figure things out.”<br/><br/>With a muted groan, Weiss quickly helped herself up from the snow-covered surface of the roof. She offered Blake a hand.<br/><br/>“I promise I won’t let you down, Blake.” Weiss promised eagerly, still unable to avoid the smile that came to her face.<br/><br/>Blake waited a few moments, taking a deep breath as she stared at Weiss’ outstretched hand. She still looked sad as she met Weiss' eyes.<br/><br/>Eventually, the Faunus girl reached out, taking Weiss’ hand to stand up beside her.<br/><br/>“Alright. So what do we do now?” Blake asked hesitantly.<br/><br/>Weiss smiled faintly. It wasn’t the same as having the Blake she remembered knowing back, but it felt good to know she had a chance to help this one.<br/><br/>---<br/><br/><b>Forever Fall, Kingdom of Vale</b><br/><br/>“Land us in that clearing!” Umber called out to the pilot of his Bullhead as the aircraft pulled in close to the camp of Adam Taurus’ unit.<br/><br/>Umber was White Fang to the core - he’d been with the movement since he’d been a boy, struggling for freedom with the cause across Remnant. It was one of the reasons High Leader Khan had trusted him with the task. He wasn’t some young pup infatuated with Taurus’ dramatics, unlike some in the organisation.<br/><br/>The White Fang commander had been ordered directly by High Leader Khan to bring Taurus in, and to use force if necessary. Apparently, the other officers in Taurus’ camp had stopped reporting in after Khan had ordered them to detain their commander.<br/><br/>So, using just about every Bullhead he had access to, Umber had airlifted a substantial number of his troops to nearby staging grounds, ready to back him up if things came to blows in Taurus’ camp.<br/><br/>With luck, the fool would have the sense not to make this fight bloody.<br/><br/>It was dark, but between the light of the moon and the Bullhead’s own lights, Umber got a better look at the camp as the aircraft descended.<br/><br/>Upon getting a closer look at what was left of it from the vantage point of the Bullhead, Umber hastily corrected his initial assessment of the position to ‘former camp’. The place looked deserted.<br/><br/>Quickly, the Bullhead got close enough to the ground for his troops to disembark, and the White Fang dropped down, weapons at the ready. Though it was increasingly looking like Taurus had decided to quit the scene already, Umber was familiar enough with the incompetent’s record that he knew you did not give Adam Taurus the chance to draw swords first.<br/><br/>“Search the forest for any trails.” He ordered the squad of troops flanking him, as they drew further into the grounds of the camp, towards the few tents left standing.<br/><br/>Amidst the perpetual blood-red foliage of Forever Fall, there were only a few tents left standing in what had once been a camp. Deserted tents lay abandoned on the ground, and a few crates had also been left scattered amidst the forest clearing. The only other thing that stood out were the dead.<br/><br/>All around them were bodies. White Fang soldiers, killed with gun and blade. Many had not died well, going by the quick glances Umber spared each corpse.<br/><br/>“What happened? Who attacked us?” One of the White Fang around him asked, looking over the bodies.<br/><br/>“We did.” Umber noted grimly. He didn’t blame the other warrior for his question. White Fang fighting against White Fang… even at the height of the debate that had seen Ghira Belladonna ultimately quit the movement, White Fang members had rarely come to blows, with such discord being severely punished by the High Leader.<br/><br/>For Adam Taurus to so quickly resort to violence against those who had been his brothers and sisters demonstrated much that the White Fang had clearly been blind to.<br/><br/>Whatever fight had happened here had been a frantic, sudden one, and Taurus’ mob had left in a hurry. Clearly not all here had been content with ignoring High Leader Khan’s orders.<br/><br/>Umber noted with growing fury how some of the dead had their hands bound. Adam Taurus had not only killed his brothers and sisters. He had executed those he took prisoner.<br/><br/>“Taurus will <em>pay</em> for this. Search the tents, and get these soldiers proper burials.” Umber commanded, his blood boiling with barely-suppressed fury. All around him, his White Fang rushed to action, some pulling back to fetch shovels from the Bullhead while others tended to the bodies.<br/><br/>The High Leader would have no choice but to answer this treachery with war. This was not something that the White Fang could ignore.<br/><br/>Umber rushed to the command tent. Hopefully, in their haste, perhaps Taurus’ men had left behind some indication of where they went.<br/><br/>As he pushed open the tent’s flap, something beeped, and Umber looked inside.<br/><br/>It was one of the biggest bombs he’d seen, just about fitting the dimensions of the command tent. Attached to the hulking bomb were numerous other charges. And they all seemed to be…<br/><br/>...activating.<br/><br/>As the Dust charges lit up, Umber distantly realised the payload was probably large enough to crater the entire camp.<br/><br/>“Oh, <em>son of a-</em>”<br/><br/>The subsequent blast was felt on the streets of Vale. It would not be the last fight between White Fang members that night.<br/><br/>---<br/><br/><b>Residential District, Kingdom of Vale</b><br/><br/>Qrow really hated driving. Not only could he not drink, but everything that could go wrong with the damn engine or the tires or the damn cup-holders always went wrong around him. All in all, they were an unnecessary hazard.<br/><br/>Right now, however, with Oz gone and Glynda busy with the school, he was the only one in the know about Weiss who could pick her up in the city.<br/><br/>As soon as Weiss had called from an unidentified scroll number, he’d rushed to get over to the Residential District to find the kid. It wasn’t exactly difficult to find the Schnee, even if the narrow, winding roads of Vale’s older Residential District weren’t exactly ideal for getting anywhere fast, and fortunately, Ozpin had more than a few cars available in Vale that he could discreetly make use of to pick the kid up.<br/><br/>Once he got there, Qrow breathed a quiet sigh of relief to see her looking pretty much intact. Qrow’s eyes narrowed, however, as he saw the Faunus girl standing beside her, wearing Weiss’ coat, waiting for him along the road.<br/><br/>Slowly, Qrow pulled up, parking alongside their stretch of road.<br/><br/>“Who’s that?” Qrow asked as he lowered the driver’s window, looking at the other girl with an appraising glance. She looked sad, and tired, the kind of tired you looked after crying for too long.<br/><br/>“Hello to you too, Qrow.” Weiss said tiredly.<br/><br/>“This is Blake. She’s with me.” Weiss told him, gesturing to the shivery-looking Faunus whose eyes widened as she got a proper look at him. The Schnee’s tone had that sort of matter-of-fact quality that told him ‘<em>no, Qrow, you don’t get to question this.’</em><br/><br/>He couldn’t help but note the familiar weapons strapped to the Faunus girl’s belt, poking out from under the coat.<br/><br/><em>Well, well, looks like Ribbon-Girl had a change of heart. This must be Belladonna.</em><br/><br/>Nodding, Qrow gestured to the back of the car.<br/><br/>“Right. Well, get in. Can’t park in these spots forever, after all.”<br/><br/>The pair quietly hopped in the back seats, and quickly Qrow got back to driving to the destination he’d had in mind. Beacon was pretty much a no-go, now. With the White Fang attack, he didn’t want to take chances in case they came back for a second go at it, and the place would have been swarming with reporters by now.<br/><br/>The pair didn’t really talk as Qrow drove through the quiet streets. He looked in the rear-view mirror for a moment. Weiss looked worried, and the Faunus kid, Blake, just looked scared.<br/><br/>Deciding he wasn’t going to try and start a conversation - not like he was going to make things less awkward, he decided to check the radio.<br/><br/>The voice on the radio rang through with a certain urgency - some newsreader was hurriedly reading out a report that had to have been handed to them seconds ago, fumbling over every other word as they nervously announced the bad news.<br/><br/>“<em>Police have confirmed that the latest attack in downtown Vale was not in actual fact directed at civilians, but rather was the result of a gunfight between White Fang members openly in the streets. What this means about the state of the militant organisation following their failed attack on Beacon Academy is unclear...”<br/><br/>"I'm sorry..." </em>Qrow heard someone whisper behind him - Blake to Weiss, by the sounds of it.<br/><br/>He felt a faint kick into the back of his chair, coming from where Weiss was sitting. Looking in the mirror, he saw a glare from the Schnee. Message received, he quickly turned the radio off. After that, it was quiet for a little while, as Qrow slowly but surely drove west. The Faunus kid was crying softly to herself at this point, which, once again, was something he really was not equipped to deal with.<br/><br/>“Where are you taking us?” The Faunus kid quietly asked at one point, sounding nervous.<br/><br/>“Well, with Beacon out as an option now,” Qrow said, “We’re going to have to find someplace else to hide Weiss - and you as well, by the looks of things.”<br/><br/>The kid’s Faunus ears fell flat against her head, and she looked down into her lap. Hesitantly, Schnee placed a gentle hand on the girl’s shoulder, all while giving him an icy look that just said ‘<em>don’t.’</em><br/><br/>Qrow nodded subtly back at the Schnee. Alright, no prodding, even if the obvious ex-terrorist in the back of the car was definitely something that was getting talked about later.<br/><br/>“Fortunately,” Qrow went on, “I happen to know a place.”<br/><br/>---<br/><br/><b>Kingdom of Mistral</b><br/><br/>Ozpin breathed a steady sigh of relief as he finally stepped into the main terminal in Mistral’s bustling airport.<br/><br/>As much as he’d grown long accustomed to lengthy journeys, there was always a certain instinctive apprehension around being bottled up in an aircraft for too long that he’d retained from prior lives.<br/><br/>Fortunately, the public flight to Mistral had made it without encountering any Grimm that the transport’s point defence turrets hadn’t instantly turned to mist, which if anything, had only improved the mood on the flight.<br/><br/>As reasonably distinguished a figure as he was in Vale, he’d fortunately seemed to have escaped notice on the public flight. As delightful as it was to recognise a Beacon graduate prospering after life at the Academy or perhaps an old colleague, he did appreciate the time to think.<br/><br/>He sat on a bench, appreciating the view as he pondered his next moves. The terminal was the height of Mistrali architecture, elegant and charming, dotted with statuary and vast windows that offered a view at the swarms of aircraft landing outside. Mistrali airships made elegantly from expertly-grown wood, sophisticated Vale liners and even an Atlesian diplomatic craft were all present outside. It made for a magnificent view. Ozpin remembered at least a few of his predecessors who would have loved to paint the scene, if only they’d had the time.<br/><br/>Still, he reminded himself, he was in Mistral on grave business. He supposed that was why he found himself distracted. The possibilities Miss Schnee had brought to his attention were grim hearing, and every step he took further into Mistral brought him closer to discovering the truth.<br/><br/>Such reluctance could not be allowed to jeopardise the future of the Kingdoms, however, as much as he hoped it wasn’t too late to prevent Leonardo’s… regrettable loss.<br/><br/>Gently reaching into a pocket, he drew out his scroll, assuring his associates in Vale that he’d arrived safely.<br/><br/>That was when the news report sounded loudly across the airport, and his eyes were drawn to the holographic screens projected above the terminal floor. Ozpin blinked as he peered at the news screen.<br/><br/><em>‘White Fang attacks in Vale - Beacon Academy Targeted’</em><br/><br/>Ozpin found himself gripping the handle of his cane tightly as the newsreader spoke.<br/><br/>Things were going wrong - already things were changing. They would have to work fast to prevent disaster.</p><p> </p><p> </p>
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<a name="section0012"><h2>12. 3.1 - Melt, Part One</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p><em>“Well,” Qrow announced as they got out of the car, “Welcome to my place.”<br/><br/>“This is your home?” Blake had asked, clearly surprised. Weiss was a little shocked, too.<br/><br/>“Ehh… ‘home’ might be a strong word. Don’t really spend all that much time here.”<br/><br/>That much was obvious. The wooden house in front of them looked like it had seen better days. It was secluded, far from any other settlements, in the middle of Patch’s dense woodlands, far enough away from most people. It was also visibly falling to bits.<br/><br/>“Qrow,” Weiss said, giving the Huntsman a dubious look, “Are you sure you’re fine with us being here?”<br/><br/>“Are you sure this place is safe?” Blake wondered, looking around them into the woods as she hesitantly stepped closer to the doorstep.<br/><br/>“Relax, both of you. No one ever comes here anymore. I go here for a little privacy, and so I’m close enough to Signal Academy for my other job.” Qrow assured them, taking a heavy swig out of his flask.<br/><br/>Blake turned back, waiting for the other two.<br/><br/>“Hey, uh, Blake, right? You go on ahead. I just want to have a little private chat with Schnee over here.” Qrow asked the Faunus girl, tossing her a set of keys which she caught easily in mid-air.<br/><br/>Glancing for a second at Weiss, Blake lightly nodded, though not without a hint of suspicion, turning towards the house and going in through the front door.<br/><br/>“Listen, kid.” Qrow began once the Faunus girl was out of sight. “I’m glad you had your little meet cute with your pal over there, you clearly know her, but-”<br/><br/>“I trust her.” Weiss told him, her tone forceful. It was clear she wasn’t going to yield on the matter of Blake sticking around.<br/><br/>Qrow looked away into the woods, taking another sip out of his flask. For a moment, he said nothing.<br/><br/>“Alright.” Qrow muttered. “Just… don’t let that nostalgia of yours get you killed one day, alright?”<br/><br/>---</em><br/><br/><b>Patch, Kingdom of Vale</b><br/><br/>“<em>Reports indicate that a rogue branch of the White Fang led by Beacon Attacker Adam Taurus has been responsible for the recent set of attacks in downtown Vale. In the wake of these attacks, Vale police have made several arrests-”</em><br/><br/>Blake heard the noise of the TV cut out swiftly as her footsteps echoed down the stairs.<br/><br/>“Good morning, Blake.” Weiss nervously called out as Blake walked into Qrow’s living room - as bare as any other room in the house, except for the slightest essentials that allowed it to qualify as a living room. The wallpaper visibly peeled in several sections, and like everywhere else in the house there were plenty of scuffs and chips.<br/><br/>The rest of the house wasn’t much better. The beds were at least comfortable - for some reason, there were three spare bedrooms that looked like they hadn’t been touched or cleaned in years.<br/><br/>There was something vaguely unsettling about the place, not particularly helped by the fact that the only other sounds heard were the not-so-distant growls of Grimm out in the hills. For some reason, Qrow Branwen did not care for being around people at all, and his ‘home’ reflected that.<br/><br/>They’d been there for four days, now, and so far, little enough had happened, which Blake supposed was a good thing when you were hiding in a safehouse. It had given her plenty of time to think things over.<br/><br/>Blake couldn’t help but notice how the TV remote had very hastily been tossed aside as she came in.<br/><br/>“...Morning.” Blake hesitantly replied as she grabbed some breakfast from Qrow’s kitchen, pouring some kind of extremely sickly-sweet flakes into a bowl while she sat at a table. Eating cereal wasn’t exactly what she’d been used to - food with the Fang had pretty much always been something scrounged up on the road rather than bought in a store. Sometimes it had been terrible, sometimes it had been great. Most of it… distinctly better than what Qrow had lying around.<br/><br/>“<em>Yes, I know…” </em>Weiss murmured faintly to herself - a sound that non-Faunus might not have picked up on, but Blake had grown used to catching how the Schnee spoke to herself under her breath. Sometimes, especially when on her medication, she seemed not to realise exactly where or when she was.<br/><br/>Weiss lay slumped over Qrow’s couch, scrawling notes idly into a cluttered-looking notebook. Blake didn’t think she noticed how she talked to herself sometimes.<br/><br/>The teenage Schnee was frail, Blake could tell. There was a visible effort to so many things she did - all because of her treatment. Every day so far, she’d been taking several different drugs, and Blake had seen her exerting herself through exercises. Whatever had happened to her, the Schnee wasn’t in great shape, and she was desperate to improve. Blake had seen that sort of thing plenty of times among the White Fang - enough to recognise that Weiss had a long way to go.<br/><br/>Qrow walked into the living area with purpose, hastily pouring himself a glass of something strong-looking that he drank in a single gulp as he tinkered with his weapon, dropping the hefty piece of equipment onto the same table as Blake.<br/><br/>Blake wasn’t exactly a weapons expert, but it was clear something was still up with Qrow’s weapon, Harbinger - it seemed almost to be locked between two different forms at once, making it look more like an art piece than a weapon. She looked away hurriedly as Qrow spared an irritated glance for her.<br/><br/>“Next time, mind telling your White Fang buddies to just try and shoot at me instead of my weapon?” Qrow said, pulling out an instrument and tinkering with the weapon, grumbling as he reached into the casing to pull out an oil-stained hand.<br/><br/>“Made it for years with this baby without any technical issues, and now I just can’t figure out what’s wrong.”<br/><br/>Blake frowned, but kept quiet. It was obvious that Weiss’ protector was still dubious of her sticking around, despite Weiss’ support. Blake could understand why. Qrow was, frankly speaking, a bit of an ass, but she understood it.<br/><br/>“<em>Qrow.</em>” Weiss hissed from the couch.<br/><br/>Qrow’s grimace grew as he struggled with the jammed weapon. “Relax, I’m just kidding. Gonna have to go back into the workshop to see what’s up with the mechanism. <em>Again.</em>”<br/><br/>With that, the Huntsman walked out. Qrow wasn’t exactly around Blake all that much much, or at least, he hadn’t been for the last few days they’d been there. That helped, in some ways. It was still more than a little awkward hiding out in the home of a man she’d attacked less than a week ago. Of course, that didn’t mean she wasn’t aware he was very much keeping an eye on her.<br/><br/>He’d spent most of that first day intermittently working and drinking in a little shed near the back of the house, apparently repairing his weapon. Other times he was out and about in Patch, because apparently he’d stocked his home with a concerning lack of things to live on that weren’t alcoholic.<br/><br/>Which, most of the time, left Blake relatively alone with Weiss. Blake wasn’t exactly sure how she felt about that.<br/><br/>Blake caught sight of the Schnee’s eyes temporarily meeting her own, before the girl’s eyes once again retreated into the depths of her notebook.<br/><br/>“Weiss?” Blake asked.<br/><br/>Weiss almost seemed to jump out of her skin, surprised that Blake had spoken to her. They hadn’t really… talked much since they’d gotten to this place. “Yes, Blake?”<br/><br/>The girl didn’t even look much the part of a Schnee as Blake had thought of them. Her dyed hair left those icy blue eyes the only clue to her heritage, and there was none of the aristocratic bearing that the Schnee family tried to demonstrate in their public experiences. She just looked like a teenager.<br/><br/>“Are you… Do you think you’re actually speaking to people when you…?” Blake trailed off cautiously.<br/><br/>Weiss looked a little caught off-guard, as if she hadn't thought it through before. “No. No, I don’t. I’m sorry if it makes you uncomfortable. I probably shouldn’t do it - it’s just a habit I picked up.”<br/><br/>“So… why do you do it?” Blake asked her.<br/><br/>Weiss seemed to choose her words carefully, but she wasn't able to hide the longing in her voice. “I was alone for a while. Thinking about my friends, even if they’re not here right now, it helps. Trying to think about what they’d say keeps them in my head, keeps everything in my head.”<br/><br/>Weiss missed her friends. She missed Blake, even if she'd never really met her before.<br/><br/>Blake still didn't know what to do with that. So far though, Weiss had done a good job of keeping her distance, giving Blake space, even if the Faunus girl hadn't been able to miss the stolen glances or the times when the girl really wanted to say something but stopped herself. It was a strange experience, having someone who clearly cared so much about her who didn't really know her.<br/><br/>“You mean that you’ve forgotten things?” Blake asked. That sounded... a little concerning, if the future really did rest on some of the things Weiss had remembered.<br/><br/>“Not all that much, just… the little things.” Weiss trailed off.<br/><br/>Blake almost didn’t want to ask. “Like… what?”<br/><br/>Weiss looked back over at her. Her voice was faint as she spoke. “I… don’t remember… what some of their faces looked like. Not as clearly as before.”<br/><br/>Blake was quiet after that. Weiss didn’t need to clarify who ‘they’ were. It was moments like this that left no doubt in her mind that Weiss really did remember all of these things. It wasn’t easy to fake pain like that.<br/><br/>She wondered how long it would be before she forgot the faces of her family. Blake hadn’t kept any pictures from before they’d… split, and she hadn’t tried to look them up or make contact since.<br/><br/>Not just a week ago, she’d been sure they represented all that had let the old White Fang fail. Now, it looked like they’d been right all along. She doubted they'd want anything to do with her now. As much as Weiss was certain she was a good person, she hadn't been around for some of the arguments she'd had with her parents even before they'd left the White Fang.<br/><br/>Weiss cut herself off as a quiet noise escaped her throat, rubbing at her eyes. “Could we… not talk about this? I’m sorry, it’s just-”<br/><br/>“Right... I’m sorry for bringing it up.” Blake hurriedly replied, looking down at her bowl, regretting that she’d even spoken, as much for bringing up her own old wounds as Weiss'.<br/><br/>“It’s alright, Blake.” Weiss quietly muttered, before going back to her notebook. That didn’t make Blake feel much better about it.<br/><br/>It pained Blake to think about how she’d been so willing to kidnap this girl - condemn her to a life as a hostage. Hurting Weiss wouldn’t have solved any of the injustices against the Faunus, especially given how clear it was that the girl's father wanted her silenced.<br/><br/>The girl didn’t deserve any of it, as far as Blake was concerned, even with her memories of being the Schnee heiress. Vengeance wasn’t what she’d been in the White Fang for, and it wasn’t what she stood for now, and Weiss had done nothing to warrant it.<br/><br/>What made Blake feel more uncomfortable was the fact that Weiss genuinely seemed to mean it when she said that she wanted to help people. There was no contempt in her voice when she spoke to Blake, no hint of duplicity.<br/><br/>Blake could tell the sad longing in Weiss’ eyes for a friend whenever she saw her, and all the same, Weiss had barely tried speaking with her since they’d wound up in the house. All out of a sort of respect for the fact that she knew this Blake wasn’t someone who knew her.<br/><br/>Weiss had talked of protecting the world, of the friends she’d had and what she knew about Blake, but she’d told Blake that she’d give her the full picture - the burden of knowing the future that might have been - only if she wanted it. Only if Blake <em>wanted</em> to help.<br/><br/>All of these things made it clear that no matter what, Weiss was far from a bad person - far from someone who deserved the ‘justice’ Adam had spoken of.<br/><br/>It hurt to see how wrong Blake had been. How blinded by anger she’d let herself become to think that what the White Fang was becoming would make things better at all.<br/><br/>So, whatever came next, she thought she could trust Weiss, or at least, more than she could trust anyone else, right now.<br/><br/>Blake knew she had decisions ahead of her.<br/><br/>More than a few times in the last few days, Blake had taken a walk out from Qrow’s home, out to a clearing close by in the forests. Each time, she’d considered leaving. Even if the White Fang had failed, she still wanted to protect the Faunus.<br/><br/>But even if she did leave, Blake couldn’t deny that for now, she wasn’t entirely sure what to do, and with Weiss’ knowledge of the future, a part of her wondered if she might be more help staying with the strange girl, at least for a time.<br/><br/>She still didn’t entirely know how she felt about the girl and her knowledge. She didn't know what she wanted to do or if there was anything she really could do. But for now, she felt safe here. Safe enough to take a breath and think over what choice she would make.<br/><br/>And to do that, she needed to<em> talk. </em>Four days of small talk and isolation hadn’t helped either of them.<br/><br/>“Weiss?” Blake asked after a while.<br/><br/>Weiss looked back up to her.<br/><br/>“The future. I think… I think I’d like to hear the rest of it.”<br/><br/>---<br/><br/><b>Haven Academy, Kingdom of Mistral</b><br/><br/>Ozpin walked the grounds of Haven Academy at a steady pace. Only the perceptive would see the way he leaned on his cane as he moved.<br/><br/>The Academy was much as he remembered it - beautiful in that particularly Mistrali way, still thronging with students and faculty even in the winter break. The midday sun provided a hint of warmth amid the chill, bathing the heights on which Haven sat in light that reflected off the snow. Mistral, for all its faults, had always managed to evoke that sense of warmth and beauty.<br/><br/>It was very easy to grow attached to a place like Haven, as one did to anywhere where life flourished.<br/><br/>Unfortunately, nostalgia was the last thing on Ozpin’s mind at that moment. The future dominated his thoughts.<br/><br/>The knowledge that were it not for Miss Schnee’s knowledge Leo would have aided in plunging the Kingdoms into disaster was as shocking as it was fortuitous.<br/><br/>The things he did today would only be the beginning of a far wider effort, that much was certain. With the situation in Vale already deteriorating, he would be forced to take actions the Ozpin Weiss remembered clearly hadn’t.<br/><br/>Few paid him any mind as he headed through the snow-covered courtyards without finding any trouble remembering exactly where he had to go; he was, after all, intimately familiar with the place after decades of visits, many before this place ever became an Academy, back before the war, when Mistral's gilded facade had shone even brighter where the Emperor held his court.<br/><br/>“Headmaster Ozpin?” An unfamiliar face asked incredulously as the Beacon Headmaster entered the main hall of Haven Academy, built and decorated in beautiful autumn hues.<br/><br/>He turned to see a woman rushing to greet him with a nervous, shocked smile on her face.<br/><br/>The woman was clearly a professor, clad in some form of combat gear, her bright blue hair making her stand out among the crowd of Haven students in their regimented dark uniforms, but not someone he recognised. It had been too long since he’d last visited Mistral’s Huntsman Academy, and it seemed that many new faculty members had been taken on since his last visit.<br/><br/>“I wasn’t told you’d be visiting! I’m really sorry! We haven’t made any preparations whatsoever-” The instructor went on, walking up to Ozpin as she spoke. The woman was young for an instructor, clearly a new member of the faculty.<br/><br/>Ozpin raised a placating hand before offering his own explanation.<br/><br/>“My being here is entirely unofficial. I’m in Mistral on personal business, you see, and I thought it wouldn’t hurt to pay a visit to an old friend.” Ozpin lied with a warm smile, offering the professor his hand. “I’m afraid I don’t recall if we’ve-”<br/><br/>The woman smiled, taking the handshake in a firm grip. “Sky Delft. Combat instructor. We haven’t exactly met before, but I saw you address the students at Beacon many times.”<br/><br/>“Ah, yes.” Ozpin recalled now. “I remember seeing you at the 37th Vytal Festival. Team ASHN, was it? You made it to the finals, if I recall correctly.”<br/><br/>“That’s the one. Best fight of my life, that.” She confirmed with a nostalgic grin, patting the twin hammer-shotguns at her belt. “Well, if you want to speak with Headmaster Lionheart, I’ve just had a meeting with him. He shouldn’t have any appointments for a little while if you want to get in there now.”<br/><br/>“Thank you.” Ozpin replied, nodding with a smile as he headed in the direction of Leo’s office.<br/><br/>The smile he wore didn’t last as he drew closer to his friend’s office.<br/><br/>Whatever came next would not be easy. As prepared as he’d thought he was for betrayal, the wounds never stopped hurting.<br/><br/>He remembered them all - so many heroes he’d trusted with his life - fought alongside through thick and thin - people he’d been proud to call friends, some he’d even hoped to grow old with, once or twice.<br/><br/>Salem had ruined every one of them, reduced them into mockeries as she did with all she touched.<br/><br/>He had to try and stop it from ever happening again. As much as it seemed unpleasant, Ozpin was still prepared to do what had to be done to counter Salem’s influence. He only hoped that Leo could still be reasoned with, this time around.<br/><br/>Ozpin made his way to Leo’s door, and took the next step in his long war.<br/><br/>---<br/><br/><b>White Fang Headquarters, Kingdom of Mistral</b><br/><br/>“What is the state of our forces in Vale?” High Leader Khan queried from her throne with a steely glare directed at those gathered around her.<br/><br/>“With the initial confusion over, High Leader, it’s clear our forces in Vale outnumber Taurus’ five to one. Still, he’s made hurried attacks on our supply caches in the region, and has pilfered a not-inconsiderable portion of the Vale branch’s arms and equipment.” One of her commanders reported, kneeling before her throne.<br/><br/>The last few days had been spent in discussion with her subordinates - discussions that ought have been spent on their continued campaign to disrupt the SDC’s operations, continued work towards fighting for Faunus workers, and stepping closer to ensuring the humans could never again look down upon the Faunus.<br/><br/>Instead, she’d spent those days considering how to hold on to what they had.<br/><br/>In less than a week, Adam Taurus had seen all that effort - all those years of preparation and work - placed into jeopardy.<br/><br/>Outside of Vale, the White Fang remained largely united, save a few upsets, but the chaos inflicted in Vale was beginning to make the other Kingdoms ask each other questions of their security.<br/><br/>If they didn’t end this soon, Khan feared she’d find the White Fang in a war they could not win. Her movement could not pretend they had not used violence - they would be targeted as surely as Adam’s forces if the humans decided to take decisive action.<br/><br/>“Clearly, the boy intends to fight a prolonged struggle. Regardless of his foolishness in opposing you, High Leader, he has some awareness of the disparities involved in opposing us <em>and</em> the humans at once.” Corsac Albain noted.<br/><br/>The hooded Faunus was another of the Menagerie branch - summoned to Mistral on other business, his ties with Menagerie had proven useful in this time of crisis, especially when the loyalty of the White Fang in Menagerie rested upon the loyalty of the Albain twins.<br/><br/>The Albains may have played at being neutral figures, humble servants of the High Leader, but Sienna had worked with them enough to see them for the political masterminds of the White Fang in Menagerie that they truly were. She'd always had to play a delicate game to keep them appeased. Fortunately, it seemed that for now, Adam Taurus had made himself the greater threat to the future of the Faunus than any issues with the High Leader.<br/><br/>“We shall have to move our resources to new locations, uncompromised by Taurus’ knowledge of our methods.” Khan decreed with a grimace.<br/><br/>“Of course, what is to say that he shall not find those as well, High Leader?” Albain pondered. “He may yet have sympathisers within our ranks who do not yet show their true colours - sympathisers who will reveal all that we have hidden.”<br/><br/>“And anywhere he attacks will be revealed to the humans.” One of the masked commanders explained. “Already we’ve lost a number of our brothers and sisters to arrests by the police in the aftermath of Adam’s strikes.”<br/><br/>“I’m afraid it’s clear that our once-brother has forgotten who it is that he is fighting for.” Albain said.<br/><br/>Khan scratched at the arms of her throne. This had been simpler before all this - few Faunus were willing to aid the humans by defecting or spying on the White Fang, and no human spy could hope to live among the Faunus for long without detection.<br/><br/>Now, however, Taurus’ virulent ideology remained small but influential. They would have to watch their backs far more carefully. He might have merely been a junior commander in Vale, but he had still been privy to secrets befitting one she’d trusted as a loyal operator.<br/><br/>“All this shows why we must eliminate Adam Taurus as soon as possible, before the humans can capitalise on our weaknesses.” Khan declared.<br/><br/>“We are already sending what reserves we can trust to Vale, High Leader. Against our numbers and our might, we shall surely prevail.” Another of her commanders - this one the captain of her personal guard - added.<br/><br/>“Of course, if this… insurrection is allowed to continue, we may be forced to take drastic measures that harm our wider plans. To prevent this, we may have to consider... an unorthodox strategy. It would certainly be regrettable, but…” The Albain trailed off.<br/><br/>“You have a proposal, Corsac?” Khan asked.<br/><br/>The Menagerie leader offered a simpering smirk as he bowed. “Only a reminder, High Leader, that in times of crisis, the enemy of our enemy can be our friend.”<br/><br/>---<br/><br/><b>Haven Academy, Kingdom of Mistral</b><br/><br/>“Oz?” Leo’s voice sounded out as Ozpin entered the man’s office, his tone filled with surprise.<br/><br/>He’d gotten old, Ozpin could tell. There was weariness to how he moved, a certain twitch in his tail, and his beard looked just a little too grey for his age.<br/><br/>Leo spoke with a warmth that was hardly unexpected from someone seeing an old friend for the first time in years. But to Ozpin’s ear, there was no mistaking that something else lay in Leo’s voice. Something that hurt to hear. Suspicion. Fear.<br/><br/>He masked it all well, at least at present. But Leonardo Lionheart was undoubtedly afraid that his old friend had arrived so unexpectedly.<br/><br/>Ozpin gave nothing away as he stepped closer with a smile, forcing friendly words out, as he had to so many other prospective traitors in the past. “Leo. It’s good to see you. How long has it been since we last met in person?”<br/><br/>“Oh, it has to have been half a decade, maybe. But… what are you doing here? I didn’t know you were even in Mistral.” Leonardo said as he got up from his desk.<br/><br/>The Haven Headmaster paused as he stood, collecting his bearings.<br/><br/>“I’m sorry, I’m getting ahead of myself. Can I get you coffee, tea? I’m afraid my office isn’t stocked with your particular preference, these days.” The Haven Headmaster offered, gesturing to a seat in front of the man’s sizeable desk.<br/><br/>Ozpin looked to the side. There on a table lay the tea set he’d gifted Leo so long ago. It was still pristine, with barely a crack and still all the signs of frequent use.<br/><br/>“Tea would be fine.”<br/><br/>---<br/><br/>Before long the pair of them were sat as they had so often before, talking like old friends.<br/><br/>Leo was an old hand at tea-making, and Oz had remembered his prior visits with a certain nostalgia. This would not be one of those pleasant visits.<br/><br/>“Oz, I’ve been meaning to ask, what became of that Schnee girl you alerted us all about? After your initial warnings to look out for her, I’ve had only rumours from Vale. Rumours that she was caught up in that awful business at Beacon.” Leo asked, the question seeming ordinary enough. They were, after all, allies. A request for information like that was perfectly within reason.<br/><br/>Already, he could see it. Innocuous requests for information - all too understandable among allies - equally understandable for a spy.<br/><br/>“I’m afraid that particular search was fruitless on our part.” Ozpin lied. “As for the girl being at Beacon, I’m afraid it seems the White Fang were clearly given poor information.”<br/><br/>“Well,” Leo said, “That’s rather disappointing. Your first message implied that James was rather excited as to the potential the girl’s knowledge of… <em>her</em> represented.”<br/><br/>“Yes, well," Ozpin replied quietly, "I’m afraid James allowed his excitement to get ahead of himself.”<br/><br/>“James? Excited? I never thought I’d see the day.” Leo chuckled warmly.<br/><br/>It all seemed like business as usual. Leo had hardly had to alter his behaviour to undermine everything Ozpin had built.<br/><br/>There was a tense energy in the air as the pair spoke with one another - making polite inquiries about the state of each others’ schools and their faculty could do nothing to disguise the nervousness that Leo was very consciously trying to suppress.<br/><br/>Perhaps had he met Leo in person without knowing his secret, Ozpin would have put it down to the stresses of the job. Leo was hardly like Merlot - someone whose failure he should have sought to correct years before they had the chance to cause damage. Or perhaps he would have sensed it in a heartbeat.<br/><br/>Either way, he would not repeat the mistakes he might have made.<br/><br/>The tea prepared, Ozpin took a sip. It was… delightful. His preferred blend, if not his preferred beverage. Ozpin wasn’t particularly worried about poison.<br/><br/>Leo knew full well that killing him wouldn’t stop him, and lifetimes of kingship had helped him grow used to recognising the distinctive signs of a poisoned beverage.<br/><br/>“Leo… the real reason I’ve come here… is because I know.” Ozpin said plainly.<br/><br/>“Know? About… what?” Leo spluttered jovially, the smile not yet leaving his face, though he couldn't help but pale at the look Ozpin sent him. “Oz, you’re going to have to be more-”<br/><br/>“About your understanding with Salem. About what she has planned, and how she is using you to achieve it.” Ozpin cut in bluntly.<br/><br/>The silence in the room as Leo’s eyes widened was palpable.<br/><br/>The pair’s eyes met. Ozpin’s meaning was unmistakable, as was Leo’s reaction. Leo’s eyes glanced towards Ozpin’s cane, held tightly at the Beacon Headmaster’s side.<br/><br/>“You… <em>know?</em>” He whispered fearfully, as his cup slipped from his hands. The jade cup shattered on impact with the autumnal-shaded floor.<br/><br/>“Yes,” Ozpin replied sadly, “and I’m afraid I have a great many questions for you.”</p>
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<a name="section0013"><h2>13. 3.2 - Melt, Part Two</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The morning had stretched out as Weiss had told her story - the full story, absent a few details she still wasn’t sure how or when to tell anyone.<br/><br/>Blake was a nervous, but willing listener, this time around. It was… easier than the first time, telling her the story in the relative comfort of Qrow’s home rather than the cold streets of Vale. The Faunus girl was mostly quiet as Weiss spoke, only offering a few questions here and there before returning to silently listening to Weiss’ story.<br/><br/>Weiss told her about more than just how she knew Blake. She talked about their time in Beacon - about the enemy that was coming to bring their world to ruin - about the twin groups fighting for the future of humanity and the Faunus.<br/><br/>Eventually, things came around to the White Fang. This was the hard part.<br/><br/>Blake had left the White Fang. But Weiss remembered the first time around she’d still found it hard to accept at first how far the organisation had really fallen.<br/><br/>Weiss couldn’t help but feel apologetic as she explained.<br/><br/>“They were used by the real enemy, the one that’s trying to destroy… everything. They’re the ones who I remember attacking Beacon, trying to attack Haven, trying to...”<br/><br/>“What?” Blake asked hesitantly.<br/><br/>“You told us once we met up after Haven… Blake, the White Fang tried to kill your parents.”<br/><br/>Blake was somehow even quieter as Weiss told the full story, her eyes widening as Weiss went into the details of what she knew.<br/><br/>Weiss stopped once she saw how Blake was starting to breathe heavily - how her eyes were again starting to glisten - how she was realising things were even worse than she’d thought.<br/><br/>“My parents?” Blake repeated, her voice quiet. She was staring down Weiss, looking for any sign of a lie on the Schnee’s features.<br/><br/>“They didn’t succeed. You helped stop it.” Weiss assured her.<br/><br/>Blake didn’t speak. She just looked… lost.<br/><br/>Carefully, Weiss placed a gentle hand on Blake’s shoulder.<br/><br/>“I’m sorry.” She said, drawing a glance from the Faunus girl, who rubbed at her eyes before speaking again.<br/><br/>“Why do these people want any of this? What do they get out of it? Who even are they?” Blake asked, her voice struggling to remain composed.<br/><br/>Weiss was quiet. This… this was the part that she had to explain most carefully.<br/><br/>“Well,” Weiss sighed, “Her name is-”<br/><br/>“What are you two doing?” Qrow’s voice sounded out.<br/><br/>---<br/><br/><b>Patch, Kingdom of Vale</b><br/><br/>Qrow sighed as he looked over the two kids.<br/><br/>Over in the workshop, he hadn’t had any luck with Harbinger yet, but he’d also dimly remembered that eating breakfast was a thing functioning human beings had to do. So he’d turned back to grab something vaguely edible, when all of a sudden he’d walked in to Weiss spilling the beans on… everything.<br/><br/>The future. The Relics and the Maidens. Salem.<br/><br/>And all to an ex-terrorist she’d known really for about a week.<br/><br/>“I’m telling Blake what I know. ” Weiss explained. The girl across from her on the couch was looking over at Qrow nervously. Going by the confused, thoughtful look on her face, she’d already had more than a few bombshells dropped.<br/><br/>Qrow’s eyes narrowed at the two of them. “<em>All </em>of it?”<br/><br/>Weiss’ eyes nervously turned to the floor. “Well, everything I’ve told you about.”<br/><br/>Blake looked over at the Schnee with a puzzled expression; she looked like she was still more than a little caught up in whatever Weiss had been telling her, eyes wide and looking twitchy. “You mean there’s more you haven’t even told Ozpin?”<br/><br/>Weiss chose her next words carefully as she turned back to Blake.<br/><br/>“There are some secrets that aren’t important right now. We can talk about those when things have... settled down.” Weiss explained gently, rubbing idly at her hands sitting in her lap, staring down at the floor for a minute with a thoughtful look.<br/><br/>Qrow didn’t much like how she talked about those secrets - secrets she couldn’t hide how reluctant she was to tell, even to Ozpin. It was the kind of way someone talked about handling an unstable Dust crystal or a live shell.<br/><br/>“Are you really sure about-” Qrow began, only for Weiss to raise a frail hand to cut him off.<br/><br/>“It’s like I said: secrets between allies won’t help us," Weiss told him in a blunt way that told Qrow she wasn't going to change her mind, "and Blake asked. I wasn’t going to say no.”<br/><br/>Qrow leaned against the wall, sighing. He got the logic. Leaving Leo on his own in Mistral had made them vulnerable - there was safety in growing their numbers a little. Weiss had already put forward a few names of folks she remembered being able allies against Salem when it had come down to it, and Oz was already taking that into account.<br/><br/>He just wasn’t sure about this girl. If she decided to leave, if anything made her decide to help the other side-<br/><br/>He was broken out of his thoughts by the Faunus looking over at him, clearly wanting to speak.<br/><br/>“You want to ask something, so go ahead. I don’t bite.” Qrow told her.<br/><br/>The Faunus was quiet for a few more moments before she spoke, her eyes glancing between him and the Schnee.<br/><br/>“Is it true, then? Really? I… think Weiss is telling the truth, but… if you and Professor Ozpin and General Ironwood believe all of it, then…” Blake trailed off, unable to hide how her voice was starting to quiver. <br/><br/>Qrow got the meaning. If he and Oz were treating it as something legit, then there would be no way of denying it - of walking out and writing all of this off as crazy and going back to how the world was when everything made sense.<br/><br/>He looked down at the girl, sighing. There was more than one reason Oz wasn’t exactly keen on telling just about anyone. Once you got clued in, it wasn’t something you just forgot. It changed how you saw everything, forever.<br/><br/>Weiss trusted this kid, even if Qrow still wasn’t sure about her. And he couldn’t exactly back down now when she’d already been filled in on enough to convince her of a little of the Schnee’s story.<br/><br/>Slowly, he took a light swig out of his flask, and then he spoke.<br/><br/>“It’s true.” Qrow stated plainly.<br/><br/>Weiss silently nodded, her expression grateful, but Blake’s eyes seemed to dim for a moment, and the girl started to shake silently.<br/><br/>“Blake, are you…” Weiss began, only to cut herself off. “Do you want me to tell you the rest later?”<br/><br/>Weiss looked a little frightened when Blake didn’t respond, the Faunus girl shrinking in on herself a little. Qrow chose not to speak. It had become very clear in the last few days that herding frightened kids <em>really </em>wasn’t something he was good at.<br/><br/>“<em>N-no.</em> I think I need to hear it all now.” Blake muttered, looking over at Weiss. <br/><br/>Taking a deep breath, Weiss returned to her explanation of the villain of their story.<br/><br/>She told Blake about their enemy. She talked about Salem.<br/><br/>---<br/><br/><b>Haven Academy, Kingdom of Mistral</b><br/><br/>Leo’s office was silent as the two headmasters stared one another down. Around them, the distant sounds of Haven Academy echoed through the walls. The sunlight shone through the windows, but in that moment, Ozpin felt cold as ice as he looked over at the man who'd betrayed him.<br/><br/>Leo broke first. The Haven headmaster shook as his eyes darted about the room.<br/><br/>“I… I could fight you.” He stuttered after a while, clearly struggling to believe his own words. The man was visibly unarmed, and his weapon sat unused atop his desk. Ozpin saw a dozen ways to subdue Leo in combat before he could so much near the bulky piece of mahogany furniture.<br/><br/>“You know that you’d lose.” Ozpin stated coolly, setting down his cup of tea as he stood up, towering over Lionheart.<br/><br/>Ozpin clutched the handle of his cane tightly as he spoke. He needed to be calm, as much as some part of him would have very much liked to throw his old friend across the room at that moment. It would be far less inconvenient to resolve the matter of Haven if the headmaster didn’t try to fight him.<br/><br/>Leo didn’t reply. The way he slumped back in his chair was response enough.<br/><br/>Ozpin walked away from the table. Leo was in the periphery of his sight as he looked about the man’s office, taking a deep breath. He had to remain calm.<br/><br/>“H-how did you know, about me and… <em>her?</em>” The old Faunus asked, drawing Ozpin’s sight back to him.<br/><br/>“Your part in this war is over, Leo.” Ozpin declared with a subtle shake of his head. “You shall never again be privy to my secrets.”<br/><br/>Leo was quiet after that, thinking to himself for a moment, before he spoke up once more.<br/><br/>“I suppose… you’ll want me to talk. Tell you all the ways in which I’ve betrayed you.” Leo whispered. "I've already done things for her that you shouldn't forgive."<br/><br/>In truth, Ozpin already knew much of what Leo would do and may already have done, but he knew it would nonetheless be useful to find out if Leo knew anything Miss Schnee had been unable to ascertain in her remembered experience.<br/><br/>“All the same, it’s in your best interest to cooperate with us.” Ozpin implored.<br/><br/>Leo shook his head frantically. Tears flowed freely down his cheeks, the veneer of pride and strength that Leo had projected all these years giving way to open terror at the prospect of betraying his new master.<br/><br/>“You don’t understand, Oz. <em>She</em>’s-”<br/><br/>Ozpin frowned as the man ranted before him. He felt the beginnings of rage stirring within him - an unfamiliar emotion, these days. It wasn’t directed at Leo, but at himself. His mind buzzed with questions. How had he failed to see this? How had he been so blind? Had he not been betrayed enough times to recognise the signs?<br/><br/>With a flick, Ozpin’s cane slammed against the floor, silencing Leo. As much as he was attempting to be conciliatory, Leo had to understand that he had little choice in this matter.<br/><br/>“We <em>can </em>protect you, Leo.” Ozpin assured him. “You’ll be alive when you’ve fulfilled your purpose for us. You know that she will not extend to you the same kindness.”<br/><br/>“I’ve already told her everything you’ve told me over the years. I’ve already betrayed everything I once stood for.” Leo murmured, cradling his head in his hands.<br/><br/>“You’ve not yet crossed the line, Leo. You can still make up for what damage you’ve already done and help protect the people.” Ozpin emphasised.<br/><br/>It was true, to an extent. Leo had betrayed him, but much of the damage he might have done had been prevented. He still had a chance to make things right.<br/><br/>Leo had offered so many hopes for things to be improved. A Faunus headmaster successfully managing Haven Academy for years on end would have been a great benefit to social progress; a Faunus traitor threatened all he'd dreamed could finally be realised in the Kingdoms. He needed Leo's cooperation or many more could suffer well past the end of his old ally's career.<br/><br/>“If I agree, what will you do?” Leo asked quietly, looking over at Ozpin with tears streaming from his eyes, trembling in his seat.<br/><br/>“Tomorrow, you will announce your resignation and a successor of my choosing will take your place. You will cooperate with specialists from the Atlesian Embassy, who will move you to an appropriate safehouse.” Ozpin explained plainly.<br/><br/>The information from Miss Schnee had allowed them to formulate many plans for dealing with Leo - the present one was the one least likely to disrupt the peace they’d preserved, reliant entirely upon Leo’s cooperation.<br/><br/>Despite James’ initial reaction to Leo’s subterfuge, he would be instrumental in ensuring a peaceful transition of power and had been all too willing to assist, aided by Miss Schnee’s further recommendations.<br/><br/>Leo looked one last time over towards his weapon, then back at Ozpin. The old headmaster sighed, and stood up before Ozpin.<br/><br/>“Then... I surrender.” Leo spoke in barely more than a whisper.<br/><br/>Ozpin didn’t show the relief he felt as he stared Leo down, scouring the man’s expression for any signs of some last minute deception. It truly was a sorry sight, when matched with the vibrant, powerful warrior he’d met as a young man so long ago.<br/><br/>He knew the Leo he'd met then would have been as disappointed as he was in what the Haven Headmaster had become.<br/><br/>“You’re doing the right thing, old friend.”<br/><br/>At that, Leo looked back to Ozpin with a sorry look.<br/><br/>“I’ve never doubted what I did was wrong, Oz. I was just… so very <em>afraid</em>.” Leo muttered.<br/><br/>The temptation came to lecture the old man - to tell him that Huntsmen and Huntresses were the protectors of the world, who ought to have been ready to face death if it meant protecting the people. And Leo <em>had</em> failed in that duty. He had allowed his fear to compromise his duty to the world. He had put millions at risk by knowingly cooperating with Salem, all to save his own skin.<br/><br/>But, looking down on the ruined shape of an old friend, Ozpin felt as much pity as he did disappointment. He'd fallen to fear enough times before to understand it well.<br/><br/>“Fear,” Ozpin muttered instead, “Is something we all experience. It’s how we deal with that fear that differentiates us.”<br/><br/>It was true that Salem <em>was</em> unbeatable, but that didn’t mean her victory was certain, not if people worked together. It would only be through the fear of people like Lionheart that the peace would be lost.<br/><br/>Leo was quiet after that, walking over silently to sit at his desk. Ozpin’s eyes turned to the weapon Leo left atop the mahogany surface, but the Haven Headmaster made no effort to reach for it as he seated himself behind the desk.<br/><br/>Ozpin looked down at the shadow of a man, ruined by fear. Leo had never looked quite so broken as he did in that moment - brought low first by Salem, and now, he sat at Ozpin’s mercy.<br/><br/>Leo’s voice picked up a hint of his old vigour as his eyes glanced to the door.<br/><br/>“If I’m finished, then you’ll probably want to know about what she’s hidden here.”<br/><br/>---<br/><br/><b>Patch, Kingdom of Vale</b><br/><br/>Blake had left once Weiss had finished speaking earlier - she’d heard the girl walk up the stairs towards the room she’d taken as her own.<br/><br/>Weiss understood. Blake needed time to think. Weiss remembered more than a few doubts she’d had herself as she’d learned more and more of the secrets Ozpin had kept from the world, and only a few had been as bad in some ways as what she’d told Blake.<br/><br/>She would have understood if Blake left, after all that, as much as the idea hurt to think about. Weiss wouldn’t exactly blame her, even if she knew that there wasn’t much that Blake could do on her own. Still, it didn’t stop her from worrying. Blake had always been one to keep her problems to herself, and it had never helped anyone, least of all herself.<br/><br/>She just wanted the girl who was so much like the friend she remembered to be okay.<br/><br/>Weiss busied herself with distraction. There were still other things to think about, after all. Other plans to make. Preparation was everything.<br/><br/>She returned to the notebook, already half-filled with more notes, more ideas, more memories. Writing things down helped, helped her remember, helped her focus.<br/><br/>This time, it didn’t help her worries much. Not when someone she couldn’t help but think of as family was so close, all while Weiss knew there wasn’t anything she could say to help. Blake had said it herself, after all: Weiss wasn’t her friend. There was nothing she could say that would help.<br/><br/>She heard Qrow come back in after a while. He’d retreated back into the workshop earlier to fix his weapon, though she knew he had to have been keeping an eye on her and Blake even if he didn't actively show himself.<br/><br/>“Well, finally got Harbinger working again. Turns out I was just missing a gear in the shifting mechanism.” Qrow drawled as he got back in, slumping onto a seat in the living room, cradling his repaired weapon like a proud parent.<br/><br/>Weiss didn’t reply, still poring over her notebook. There was no way the older Huntsman couldn’t tell what had Weiss on edge.<br/><br/>“What’re you doing there?”<br/><br/>“Combat technique.” Weiss replied curtly as she continued scrawling notes. “Trying to remember what worked. I might not be able to fight yet, but I can try and remember how.”<br/><br/>Qrow was mostly quiet as he sat there, thinking to himself. The house felt distinctly quiet as the pair sat.<br/><br/>“How’s your Aura doing?” He asked her after a while.<br/><br/>“A little better.” It was true. While she was still going to be taking medication for a while, it was in smaller doses. Her Aura already felt far better than it had only a week ago, and everything felt less distant.<br/><br/>“Where’s your pal?” Qrow asked.<br/><br/>“Upstairs, I think.” Weiss said, though for all she knew, Blake had left already.<br/><br/>“Still shaken up by your little talk?”<br/><br/>Weiss looked back over at Qrow. She felt cold as she spoke.<br/><br/>“I can’t imagine what could be upsetting about finding out the organisation you’d dedicated your life to would try to murder your family, after allying with an ancient being bent on the destruction of all life.”<br/><br/>“Point taken.” Qrow conceded with a short nod. He looked uncomfortable, as he often did when talking about Blake.<br/><br/>Things were quiet again after that.<br/><br/>“Well,” Qrow added afterwards, holding up his Scroll, “We’ve got some good news.”<br/><br/>“What’s that?”<br/><br/>“Oz is wrapping things up in Mistral. Should be back soon. That means we’ll be able to start planning our next moves. Namely, what to do with your friend.”<br/><br/>Weiss’ eyes narrowed despite the good news.<br/><br/>“We’re not doing anything with Blake that she doesn’t choose.” She told him, closing her notebook as she focused on the Huntsman.<br/><br/>“Relax, kid. I didn’t mean it like that.” Qrow said. “All Oz’d do is offer suggestions. He’s not really the coercive type, and neither am I.”<br/><br/>Weiss’ eyes turned down to the floor.<br/><br/>“I just… I don’t want her to think she’s being pressured into helping us.”<br/><br/>She just wanted everything to be <em>alright,</em> for once. It didn’t feel like much to hope for, but that would have been enough.<br/><br/>---<br/><br/><b>Haven Academy, Kingdom of Mistral</b><br/><br/>Even with Haven secured, there was still work to be done.<br/><br/>Leo had led Ozpin towards the hidden chamber after their conversation, and told him what Salem had left there.<br/><br/>Though Miss Schnee had mentioned no such creature being present at Haven, he took the information in stride - he was familiar with such forms of Grimm, and had encountered them before in the past.<br/><br/>It was a Seer; an emissary for Leo to use to communicate with her. Instant, clear communications, unburdened by technological limitations, all made possible by the magic that had crafted the Grimm so long ago.<br/><br/>There had been a time, before the CCT, when one of Salem’s crucial strengths had been such coordination, enabled by such creatures. Even now, they still had their uses.<br/><br/>Walking through the torchlit tunnels, cane at the ready, it didn’t take long before he saw it at the end of the hallway.<br/><br/>It hovered in the air, silent and still, barely seeming to notice him as he approached. Its domed form shone like polished glass, and its limbs twitched as he drew close.<br/><br/>Ozpin was well aware that despite its main function as a messenger, a Seer was still a dangerous creature, but he had faced far fiercer Grimm than this one. Ozpin had shared much of his power over the millennia, but he remained far from an ordinary Huntsman in terms of skill and reflex.<br/><br/>As he drew close, it lunged - a futile set of blows, as Ozpin <em>moved</em>. Each attempt by the flailing limbs of the seer were parried separately by a dozen strikes of his cane, all made in the same instant, flinging the creature against the wall, hissing and chittering as he grabbed the creature, staring down into the glass-like surface of its body.<br/><br/>“My complacency allowed you to threaten all I’ve struggled to build. Never again.” He spoke to the flailing creature as he felt his hands apply pressure.<br/><br/>“You’ve failed. The mistakes you exploited will not be repeated.” Ozpin promised, receiving only mindless chatter from the creature in his grip as its flesh began to turn to acrid, dusty smoke.<br/><br/>He couldn’t deny there was some small part of him that wished she was there, waiting on the other side, listening; that some appeal from him might break past the twisted thing she’d long since become.<br/><br/>But like so many dreams, he had long since recognised what was impossible, and moved on. He had little time to dream of the impossible. Even with Leo secured, there was still much to do.<br/><br/>With a burst of Aura, he crushed the creature until not even mist remained in his hands.<br/><br/>---<br/><br/><b>Industrial District, Kingdom of Vale</b><br/><br/>The mace rushed towards his head, crackling with Dust as the White Fang fighter tried her best to strike Adam.<br/><br/>Adam didn’t hide the grin on his face as Wilt cut through the air around him, deflecting every strike it met.<br/><br/>Another blow came, and Adam saw his opportunity. One shot of Blush was enough to send the mace flying out of his opponent’s hand, and after that a swift strike from Wilt’s hilt threw her to the ground.<br/><br/>All around him, Faunus fell, broken at the hands of other Faunus.<br/><br/>His forces - loyal brothers and sisters of the true White Fang - stood around him, garbed in new colours - his colours - to signify their newfound purpose.<br/><br/>Their target tonight was a warehouse used to store resources for the White Fang, wasted until now. Stealth had been the main shield that protected this place from human eyes, and without that it had been trivial to breach its perimeter.<br/><br/>Khan had thought the troops here were enough to protect her supplies - supplies wasted on her futile work. She was wrong, and the weapons stored in this warehouse would be of far better use to Adam’s new war.<br/><br/>If Sienna hadn’t been so foolish as to make it war, this wouldn’t have needed to happen. If these Faunus saw the real foe instead of foolishly trying to kill him, they wouldn’t have brought it on themselves.<br/><br/>Many had tried to fight him tonight as his forces tore through their hurried defence, but not one of them had been fast enough. They lacked the resolve to win.<br/><br/>And now, only one of them remained standing against him, a masked warrior guarding the door to this station’s basement command centre.<br/><br/>“If only you’d shown such courage against our true enemy.” Adam told him.<br/><br/>“The High Leader will end you for this!” The loyalist screamed, readying themselves into a combat stance.<br/><br/>“She’s welcome to keep trying.”<br/><br/>At that, the Faunus charged. Adam scarcely had to move. A simple dodge and a single thrust of his blade’s hilt, and it was done. The last of Khan’s warriors here had fallen, bruised and broken before his troops.<br/><br/>It was almost disappointing, really. He hadn’t realised how many pathetic warriors had surrounded him in the ranks of the White Fang before tonight.<br/><br/>With that done, quiet descended on the warehouse, but Adam knew it wouldn’t be long before humans came to investigate the activity here. They would have to be fast if they were to secure the weaponry the White Fang had been stockpiling.<br/><br/>One of his lieutenants followed him down the steps, flanked by five more troops.<br/><br/>The command centre wasn’t much, largely consisting of a map and a radio, with a pile of scorched papers put hurriedly to the torch. Whoever was in command had either left or been subdued upstairs.<br/><br/>“Teams one and two are loading the transports, boss. Team three’s gathering the prisoners.” His subordinate reported.<br/><br/>“Good. The sooner we strip this place, the better.” Adam said, poring over the documents contained in the office.<br/><br/>There wasn’t much left. The White Fang kept few of their secrets digitally, where Atlesian hackers could find them. Storing such knowledge on paper also made it easier to destroy, and all that remained were notes on locations he was already well aware of.<br/><br/>It didn’t matter. Knowledge wasn’t why they’d attacked this place.<br/><br/>If they were to be able to wage war against the humans, they would require resources. Resources that the false White Fang clearly no longer needed, and that Adam’s forces possessed the locations of - caches, bases, warehouses.<br/><br/>The sudden sound of screams and gunfire drew Adam out of his thoughts. Something was happening in the rest of the warehouse - a fight, and a large one, by the sounds of it.<br/><br/>That was unexpected. There was no way Khan would get reinforcements here that quickly.<br/><br/>“Reinforcements?” His lieutenant asked, nervously glancing towards the door.<br/><br/>“See what’s going on up there!” Adam commanded, and one of his masked soldiers hurriedly scaled the stairs up into the main warehouse.<br/><br/>The gunfire continued, interspersed between the distinctive shots of a weapon that sounded unfamiliar to Adam’s ears, coupled with the <em>thwack</em> of something striking body after body.<br/><br/>Whoever this was, they were winning.<br/><br/>The door to the command centre swung upon, revealing the trooper he’d sent out, panting and falling to her knees, gesturing frantically to the room above as her Aura flickered pink.<br/><br/>Adam growled, gesturing to his lieutenant and the troops around him to follow. Hurriedly, they scaled the stairs back up into the main building.<br/><br/>“What is this?” Adam roared as he saw the carnage that filled the warehouse.<br/><br/>There, amidst the stacked crates lay the bodies of his warriors, unconscious, bloodied and beaten. Whatever had happened, it had been quick, and it had bested all of his soldiers.<br/><br/>“Oh, me?” A voice echoed through the warehouse.<br/><br/>It didn’t take long to find the source.<br/><br/>A human now sat at the centre of the warehouse, gently twirling a cane in his hands as he leaned back in a chair, legs crossed over one of Adam’s unconscious soldiers. He wore a white coat and a bowler hat, and his bright orange hair wasn’t something Adam would forget easily.<br/><br/>Not that this human was going to make it out of here alive.<br/><br/>“You’re making a mistake, getting in our way, human! The true White Fang will-”<br/><br/>“Oh, I <em>seriously </em>doubt that. Have to admit, I was expecting these guys to put up more of a fight.” The criminal half-chuckled, gesturing to the piles of groaning Faunus scattered about the warehouse. “And I thought <em>cops </em>were easy to deal with in this district!”<br/><br/>“What do you want?” Adam growled.<br/><br/>The human grinned wide as he looked between the remaining Faunus, speaking with a calm that was entirely unsuited to the situation, and that made Adam nervous, as much as he was unwilling to admit it.<br/><br/>It was the kind of calm that a hunter had as he watched over an expertly-prepared trap.<br/><br/>“Well, as a… local businessman, I have to make a living. Turns out, a bunch of armed and crazy animals running amok in the city isn’t really good for business. For some reason, it makes the law-abiding citizens of our Kingdom a little nervous, and when they get nervous, the cops and the Huntsmen start bringing in the big guns.”<br/><br/>A criminal then, Adam noted with disgust. Another human robber with no principles, getting in the way of his liberation of the Faunus.<br/><br/>“Now, I’d hoped that the slightly saner bunch of you maniacs would have dealt with your little group by now, but by the looks of it,” the criminal went on, gesturing to the tied up pile of loyalist White Fang in the corner, “they’re not doing a great job.”<br/><br/>“So, that’s where I come in. Taking you in will be my little act of public service. Plus, there’s a lot of Lien on your horny little head.”<br/><br/>“You really expect that you’re going to beat us?” Adam called out, glancing at the seven warriors flanking him. This criminal might have bested some of his troops, but against Adam’s skill and his Semblance, there’d be no contest.<br/><br/>“Of course not!” The man in the hat laughed, twirling his cane over his shoulder. Then he looked behind Adam with a grin.<br/><br/>“She is.”<br/><br/>And that was when the small ice cream girl started stabbing everyone.</p><p> </p><p> </p>
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<a name="section0014"><h2>14. 3.3 - Melt, Part Three</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p><b>Industrial District, Kingdom of Vale</b><br/><br/>In an instant, the girl was among them.<br/><br/>Adam didn’t get a good look at her - she was nothing more than a blur of colour in the corner of his eye - moving between his remaining soldiers in a way that looked more like a dance than a fight, easily deflecting blows and dealing her own while losing none of her momentum. She was small, she was fast, and she was never in the same place for more than a second.<br/><br/>Any time one of his rapidly dwindling fighters scored a hit, she seemed to vanish into shattered glass and a flare of pink Aura.<br/><br/>In moments, half of them were already on the ground, flailing as they failed to adapt to the sudden changes in the direction of their new opponent’s attacks.<br/><br/>Then the other human got involved, firing explosives from the end of his cane, grinning as his associate danced between them. That was more than enough to finish the fighters already stunned by his companion.<br/><br/>Adam dodged and rolled, feeling his Aura shimmer at every shot. He could try absorbing those shots with his Semblance, but with the other human still around, it would take seconds he didn’t have to take hits that powerful.<br/><br/>His lieutenant, last of his remaining fighters, tried to rush the other human with his pair of blades. It was enough to stop him firing that cane, but these two were skilled fighters. With a deft movement of his own weapon, the red-haired criminal parried both strikes.<br/><br/>The next thing Adam saw in the periphery as he dodged and deflected the small girl’s attacks was his lieutenant’s crumpled form hitting the wall.<br/><br/>Now he was alone.<br/><br/>“Enough!” Adam screamed, swinging Wilt’s blade straight through the girl.<br/><br/>She shattered into glass, and at that same moment he felt the full weight of the girl’s parasol slam into his masked face, knocking him over.<br/><br/>“You can’t hide behind your Semblance forever!” Adam barked. The tiny girl just grinned.<br/><br/>Adam dodged as the other criminal’s cane went straight for his head, rolling away from the pair as he scrambled for an even footing on the ground.<br/><br/>The warehouse was stacked with crates - some to keep up appearances, the others concealing the arms and equipment his raid had been looking for. Now, they gave him cover as he pulled back to recover. Kicking over a stack gave him seconds to get his bearings while they went for him.<br/><br/>Escape wasn’t on Adam’s mind, however. All that he could think of as he achieved a moment of respite was what he was going to do to these <em>scum </em>who’d gotten in his way - of what he’d do for the other traitors who thought they could stop him.<br/><br/>He had no intention of being the last survivor of a failed operation again.<br/><br/>Before long, Adam rejoined the fight, bursting out around a corner to lunge for the taller human, swinging for his throat with Wilt’s blade.<br/><br/>With a grin, the criminal met Wilt using his cane however, and with a pull to the left, caught Adam’s sword on the cane’s hook, redirecting the strike and following it up with a swing from his free hand.<br/><br/>Adam was fast, however, and he was able to dodge, even as he growled to see another attack wasted.<br/><br/>Neither of the two let up, however. Where the taller one wasn’t firing his cane or slipping in a quick hit, his companion was darting about, close, but always out of reach.<br/><br/>The way they fought was crude - the girl was clearly the more inexperienced, even if her Semblance made her trickier to fight - but they were synchronised, and that left Adam with few openings.<br/><br/>Still, he felt the power of his Semblance growing within him with each parried strike. He just had to bide his time and pick the right moment, and he’d be able to finish the fight in an instant.<br/><br/>The taller human rushed him, meeting his strikes in a blur of motion, slamming back each blow with a brutal strike of his cane, before trying to strike at the White Fang rebel with his free hand, drawing his fist back as it smacked against Adam’s Aura.<br/><br/>Eventually, Adam spotted his chance, if only for a second, and with a combination strike of Wilt and Blush, knocked the older human off balance long enough to try and directly pierce his Aura.<br/><br/>Using a small amount of his Semblance’s power, Adam sliced with Wilt, drawing blood from a long gash on the human’s right arm.<br/><br/>With a hiss, the other human fell back, and Adam heard a strangled, mute gasp from the small girl, who hurried to fill the gap her companion had left in the melee.<br/><br/>If the smaller human had been a gust of flurried blows before, now she was a whirlwind, her face contorted into a silent snarl as a blade shot out of her parasol, aimed straight for Adam’s throat. He deflected the strike, just barely, but the girl didn’t let up.<br/><br/>“Hey, calm down with that thing! We do want to get paid for this shit afterwards!” The bleeding man yelled, drawing a glance from the girl, giving Adam a chance to breathe for the first time in what had felt like minutes.<br/><br/>It also gave him the best chance to strike.<br/><br/>This little ambush was not how he was going to end. This was not how his glorious fight for the future of the Faunus was going to conclude. Adam Taurus was not going to be put down by a pair of human <em>lowlives.</em><br/><br/>Roaring, he drew Wilt, forcing his Semblance’s energy out, and <em>cut.</em><br/><br/>In the direction of Adam’s strike, crates fell to pieces, sliced clean in half, and the air was filled with scattered tarp and contents from the containers.<br/><br/>The girl before him, bearing the brunt of his attack…<br/><br/>...Did the splits, avoiding his strike entirely.<br/><br/>For just a moment, the warehouse was silent, before Adam started screaming.<br/><br/>The masked Faunus lunged for the girl, moving in a blur, desperately swinging his blade in the hopes that it would meet its target.<br/><br/>“Why won’t you just fight me!” He roared at the tiny girl.<br/><br/>That was when he felt something reach around his right leg and <em>pull</em>, throwing him to the floor.<br/><br/>In a moment of rage, he’d forgotten his surroundings.<br/><br/>Looming behind him, the man in the hat laughed, leaning on his cane. Already his Aura had healed the meagre cut Adam had dealt him.<br/><br/>“Don’t be bitter, horny. We’ve heard all about you on the news. Someone with your record should know,” The criminal spoke as his accomplice leapt towards Adam, feet first.<br/><br/>“There’s no fun in fighting fair.”<br/><br/>Whatever bitter words Adam was about to shout out were cut short as a boot smashed against his head, and everything went to nothingness.<br/><br/>---<br/><br/>With that last strike, their new prize fell to the floor in a heap. Around his unconscious body, the shattered fragments of the Faunus’ mask fell to the floor around him. Roman grimaced at the sight. He’d probably wear a mask too if <em>that</em> was what he looked like underneath. Not that he’d have gotten caught long enough for anyone to ever brand him.<br/><br/>The pair of criminals took a breath, Aura flickering as they reviewed the sights around them. All over the warehouse, other Faunus lay groaning, crumpled on the ground. Some were more conscious than others, but it didn’t look like anyone else was in the shape to cause a fuss.<br/><br/>Hopefully, that meant the rest of the job would go a bit more smoothly.<br/><br/>“That… that was <em>not</em> fun.” Roman wheezed as he stared over at the unconscious Faunus. Quickly, he kicked the mean-looking blade away from the guy’s hand, just in case he had any more surprises in store for them.<br/><br/>He glanced towards his partner. It was good to see the guy at least hadn’t been able to hit her. The kid had done well - she’d been in fights with him before, but she was a league above Vale’s usual underworld types, even if she didn’t know it yet.<br/><br/>She’d come a long way since he’d found her - figured out how to fight - found her Semblance, which was better than him, even if he’d never admit to anyone how much he sometimes wished he had.<br/><br/>Now she’d taken down a White Fang bigshot without taking a hit. Not bad for a Vale street rat.<br/><br/>“...” Silently, Neo gestured to his arm with concern. Roman waved her off. He still had enough Aura, and the wound had already healed, even if he could still feel a faint pain from where that sword had cut straight past his Aura. A few inches more, and he’d have been missing an arm.<br/><br/>“Don’t worry about me, just-”<br/><br/>Roman was cut off by a new sound in the distance, quite possibly his least favourite sound in the world; the wailing screech of sirens, and he was pretty sure it wasn’t the fire brigade.<br/><br/>“Oh, <em>motherfu</em>- Quick, grab his legs.” He gestured frantically to Neo as they rushed for their prize.<br/><br/>Hurriedly, the pair got up and started hefting the unconscious Faunus out of the warehouse. They’d procured a getaway car for this job, parked it a ways away once they’d sniffed out the latest White Fang target. It wasn’t exactly the best car for the job - they weren’t exactly living on the biggest budget at the moment - but it’d do.<br/><br/>Finding Taurus hadn’t been easy. All the cops Roman could bribe didn’t know a thing about the White Fang infestation right under their noses, but Junior had come through - for some reason, he hadn’t even made much of an effort to haggle extra out of them for the info, just asked them to make sure to give this Faunus a black eye on his behalf.<br/><br/>Whoever Adam Taurus was, it was pretty clear that he was very good at pissing people off.<br/><br/>Eventually they made their way out of the area surrounding the warehouse to the quiet alley they’d parked in.<br/><br/>Roman just hoped the cops weren’t feeling competent today. The guy wasn’t easy to carry, and Roman felt himself slowing down just a little as they approached the car.<br/><br/>“...” Neo looked at him with narrowed eyes as she gestured to the bulk she was carrying. Roman just rolled his eyes as he kept moving.<br/><br/>“Don’t look at me like <em>that. </em>This side’s just as heavy as yours! Just cram him in the trunk.”<br/><br/>The car’s trunk opened, and the pair hurriedly set to stuffing their prize in the back, after applying cuffs and as much tape as they could get a hold of. They might have beaten him in a fight, but Roman wasn’t the sort to take chances.<br/><br/>A few more moments of those sirens getting louder and closer, however, and it was becoming clear that this guy was not going to fit in the back of the trunk unless they decided to cut him into pieces.<br/><br/>“...” Neo rolled her eyes at the sight of Roman fumbling with the unconscious Faunus.<br/><br/>“Well I’m<em> sorry</em> for not asking the dealer whether or not the trunk was the right size for hiding unconscious terrorists - just do your thing with him in the back!”<br/><br/>“...” The girl gestured to herself, shaking her head. Even silent, she managed to radiate uncertainty.<br/><br/>“Hey, just relax, alright? You’re no slouch with that Semblance of yours.” Roman told her as he got the engine running.<br/><br/>Hesitantly, the silent girl nodded, opening one of the back doors to the car and helping pull the White Fang leader in. Roman’s head <em>thwacked</em> lightly against the roof of the car door, and he muttered curses even as Neo let out a mute chuckle.<br/><br/>“This is <em>not </em>what I wanted to be doing when I got up this morning!” Roman groaned.<br/><br/>“...” Neo glanced at him in a way that very much said ‘<em>Yes it was, you’ve been planning this for days and you love it, really.’</em><br/><br/>“Well, you’ve got me there.” Roman smirked back as the pair finally got their prize into the back of the car.<br/><br/>Mopping up when a job was done was always so much less thrilling than the actual <em>doing </em>part. Still, if the White Fang had more like this particular whackjob, Roman thought he’d be just fine with the rest of this business being as boring as possible.<br/><br/>---<br/><br/><b>Patch, Kingdom of Vale</b><br/><br/><em>“Weiss, we need to talk.”</em><br/><br/>They felt like they should have been easy words to say. That’s what Blake had thought when she’d first decided to talk to Weiss about what she wanted to do.<br/><br/>Now, that had been two days ago, and she’d barely managed to say a word to the other girl since.<br/><br/>The problem wasn’t willingness. Blake did <em>want</em> to talk. Finding the words wasn’t easy, though. She still found herself wondering what it was she wanted to tell Weiss in the first place before she considered the ‘how’, even after days of nothing but thinking it over.<br/><br/>There was still a part of her that told her she should run - that Weiss’ stories couldn’t possibly be true - that she was getting pulled into something crazy. But just enough had been right that she had to at least consider that the rest of it could be. And if that was the case, then she didn’t really have much of a choice.<br/><br/>She hated how everything in her head told her not to trust Weiss - she was a human, after all. Not just a human, an apparently mad one at that, but a Schnee, of all things. A week ago, she’d known with chilling certainty that anyone bearing that name could only ever be her enemy.<br/><br/>But she couldn’t trust those instincts, anymore, not when she was only starting to realise just how few of her thoughts had really been hers for so long.<br/><br/>Tonight, Blake knew she couldn’t hold all of it in any longer. She had to get it out, start to get things moving, or she wouldn’t be able to sleep.<br/><br/>Stepping out of the room she’d claimed as her own, Blake noticed the faint light coming out of Weiss’ own door. It seemed that Weiss had as much difficulty sleeping as Blake had, which made things moderately less awkward.<br/><br/>As she walked into the other bedroom, Blake didn’t feel cruel enough to ask why she found Weiss the way she did - sat ramrod straight on her bed, staring at her wall, just like she didn’t ask why the girl always sat with her door wide open even in the middle of the night, letting a chilling breeze fill the little bedroom.<br/><br/>That was another long conversation for another day.<br/><br/>“Weiss?” Blake whispered. She didn’t come closer, not unless Weiss let her.<br/><br/>It seemed to take a few moments for the sound to register to the girl as she turned her head and after a few moments, seemed to see that Blake was standing in the open doorway.<br/><br/>“Blake?” Weiss asked, hesitant, pushing a few tufts of dark hair out of her vision as she blinked her way back to awareness. She looked distant - like she wasn’t quite sure whether or not she was dreaming - shivering, but Blake didn't think it was from the cold.<br/><br/>It was the sort of look Blake had gotten used to since meeting her, but usually Weiss did seem to try to stay with what was happening around her in the day. Alone, she looked more lost than Blake had seen her before.<br/><br/>“I wanted to talk.” Blake at last blurted out. “And I saw you were awake, b-but if you want to do this tomorrow, I can-”<br/><br/>“No, please.” Weiss interjected, shaking her head suddenly. “I’d... rather not be alone, right now. What did you want to talk about?”<br/><br/>Weiss still sounded a little distant, but she sounded like she was coming back to herself, at least for the moment. That meant that the conversation probably wouldn’t be a waste of time.<br/><br/>Blake let out a sigh, relieved as she met Weiss’ eyes in the dim light of the bedroom. That was one step out of the way.<br/><br/>Of course, now that she’d actually managed to muster the courage to speak, Blake realised she hadn’t really put much thought into what else she was actually going to say.<br/><br/>Carefully, Blake bought herself some more time as she sat herself down on the edge of the bed, awkwardly trying to figure out how best to sit without discomforting the other girl. She settled for clinging to the edge, just enough of her weight on the mattress that she wasn’t technically standing.<br/><br/>“I’ve had… a lot to think about, for the last few days. What you’ve told me was…" Blake trailed off with a shrug, "a lot." <br/><br/>That was an understatement. Learning not only that the cause she’d dedicated her life to would fall into madness and murder had been bad enough, but the rest of it… the Fall of Beacon, the Maidens, <em>Salem…</em><br/><br/>Blake tried not to think about that part.<br/><br/>Talking to Weiss wasn’t making it easier. Every time she looked at the girl, she couldn’t help but feel the shame bubbling up inside her. Shame for having needed help to see what now felt so painfully obvious. Shame for having gone along with it. Shame out of knowing that she could have gone on with Adam for years more.<br/><br/>That was the worst part of all of it; how that particular part of Weiss’ tale was the easiest to believe. Because she’d already lived part of it.<br/><br/>She was a criminal; a terrorist, a thug. She’d willfully attacked the one institution that genuinely could be said to protect the interests of humans and Faunus together, despite its faults. The only thing that separated her from the rest of the terrorists - Adam, Ilia, and all the others, was Weiss’ mercy.<br/><br/>These facts had sat gnawing in the back of her head since Weiss had brought her with her. Blake still didn’t feel like she’d earned any of it. She was just as culpable as the rest.<br/><br/>Blake wasn’t used to really speaking to humans, but Weiss defied all expectations. She didn’t glare at the ears on top of her head. She didn’t show a hint of disgust, and Blake suspected the flashes of pity the other girl sent her way had little to do with her species. Those sorry looks Weiss kept showing her didn’t help those churning, conflicting feelings go away, either.<br/><br/>Blake winced as she struggled to focus on why she was here. She’d spent long enough stewing in her own thoughts. She needed to start taking action, not just thinking about it.<br/><br/>“I came here to say… I don’t think you’re crazy.” Blake began, nervously picking at her sleeve as she spoke.<br/><br/>“...And?” Weiss looked… <em>hopeful </em>as she waited for Blake to keep speaking, emerging from the cocoon of her sheets to face the other girl more directly. Already, the conversation seemed to have brought her a bit more back into the present.<br/><br/>“I think I’ve heard enough to be convinced by most of it, and if even half of what you’ve said is true… then I want to stick around and help.”<br/><br/>“Besides,” Blake added. “I owe you… for all of this.”<br/><br/>Weiss blinked, the look on her face twisting into confusion. “What?”<br/><br/>Blake paused for a moment, taken aback. Wasn’t it obvious?<br/><br/>“You got through to me, back at Beacon. Without you, I don’t know whether or not I would have left. I… I owe you so much for that.” Blake explained.<br/><br/>“Blake, you don’t-” Weiss began to reply, but Blake cut her off with a shake of her head.<br/><br/>Weiss had a lot of ideas about the kind of person Blake was, even if she tried to be polite and hide it, but right now, Blake wanted to be clear.<br/><br/>“I do. I’m sorry, but I do. I owe you and I owe the world to make up for helping any of this happen. Adam’s out there, <em>right now</em>, sowing chaos, hurting people, and I helped him. You cut that short. You helped me, and I can’t just ignore that.”<br/><br/>Weiss chose her next words carefully, scratching idly at a patch of aged wallpaper next to her bed, mulling things over.<br/><br/>“You act like you walked into all of that with a clear head. You were manipulated, Blake.” Weiss replied, frowning sadly as she spoke.<br/><br/>Something inside Blake made her want to scream at the other girl’s assumptions - to scowl at the idea that this <em>human</em> had any idea of what she’d been through.<br/><br/>Then the rage faded in an instant and Blake blinked, struggling to keep a grip on the bed.<br/><br/>Weiss was wrong about her, Blake thought, as a sickening feeling churned inside her. This was what she was. That she didn’t like that person didn’t change any of it.<br/><br/>She hoped Weiss hadn’t noticed the flash of anger in her eyes. She didn’t deserve it, Blake knew.<br/><br/>“That… that doesn’t make it feel any better. I still went along with everything, things that I knew were wrong, until you showed up, and without you, I would have kept on ignoring those things for… <em>too long.</em>”<br/><br/>“Maybe that’s true. You <em>can</em> make up for those mistakes, though. I know you can. You’re not a bad person.” Weiss insisted.<br/><br/>“You keep saying that.” Blake replied. “The only reason I’m not in a cell right now is because you trusted me.”<br/><br/>“Blake, as far as I’m concerned, rescuing me already makes up for the attempted kidnapping. You don’t owe me. I don’t want you to owe me.” Weiss inched closer as she spoke, reaching to clutch Blake’s hand. “<em>Please</em>, don’t get involved in this just because of that.”<br/><br/>At that, Weiss looked down, eyes widening at the moment of contact. Hurriedly, the other girl retreated back to the other side of the bed.<br/><br/>There it was again. That uncomfortable moment of familiarity before Weiss pulled back into herself and things just sort of stalled.<br/><br/>Blake couldn’t blame her for seeing someone else when she spoke, but it did have a way of halting a conversation.<br/><br/>They sat there, after that, for a little while, glancing between each other in silence. Weiss didn’t say anything else. It looked as if words were as hard to find for her as it was for Blake.<br/><br/>“Well,” Blake spoke up, “Maybe you’re right about some things. I don’t want to hurt people. I’d like to try and make things better. This war you remember... It’s something that’s going to threaten everyone, and right now, it looks like you and these people you’re working with are the only ones who are in a place to stop it.”<br/><br/>Just for a moment, Weiss looked especially distant, before she gave a curt nod. Blake took that as a sign to keep talking.<br/><br/>“You’ve talked a lot about the past since we’ve met.” Blake noted, “What do you want to do in the future? You’ve got to have some ideas - some sort of plan.”<br/><br/>Weiss shrugged with a sad glance at Blake’s expectant face. Slumping against the wall, she looked thoughtful as she spoke.<br/><br/>“Besides telling Ozpin everything I know… besides trying to get better? Not much, really. I’ve had a lot of time to come up with ideas, but now I’ve already changed things. Things that I can’t plan around anymore. Not right now, anyway.”<br/><br/>“Well,” Blake replied with a shrug of her own, “Some ideas are better than no ideas. I’d still like to help.”<br/><br/>“What makes you think I’m going to do much?” Weiss asked, “You’ve been around me long enough to tell I’m not in the best shape, and I’ve still got to focus to just… <em>be here</em>, most days.”<br/><br/>Blake crossed her arms, narrowing her eyes at the other girl. For someone who had visibly struggled to hide how happy she was to see Blake, Weiss was certainly trying to find reasons for Blake not to stick around.<br/><br/>There were still plenty of things Blake just didn’t understand about the strange girl.<br/><br/>“I’m just not sure there’s much I can do that you can help, right now. I’m a bit of a wreck.” Weiss muttered.<br/><br/>“And I’m just a 14 year old... <em>criminal." </em>Blake phrased carefully, the last word feeling right but hurting to admit, all the same. "We’ve both got a lot to learn, and you could use someone to help you get through your… <em>situation</em>.” Blake gestured to Weiss, the girl still subtly gaunt and pale in a way that didn’t seem entirely natural or healthy.<br/><br/>“You might not be in good shape now, but we’ve got time to work on that. So, if you don’t have much of a plan, and I don’t have much of a plan, we could help each other prepare for whatever’s coming. So that we’ll both be ready.”<br/><br/>Blake knew she wasn’t exactly good for much, but she picked up a few things well enough in the Fang, and she could get better at those. With how Weiss had put it, they were going to need a lot of help, and if Weiss’ memories told her anything, it was that she can’t have been that bad in a fight.<br/><br/>The other girl had chewed her lip while Blake spoke, clearly thinking over the Faunus girl’s offer. Eventually, she broke her silence once Blake’s offer had been made clear.<br/><br/>“If you’re going to do this… Then I want you to promise me some things.” The Schnee spoke quietly.<br/><br/>“Like what?” Blake asked.<br/><br/>“First of all, I don’t want to hear anymore about you ‘owing me’. As far as I’m concerned you don’t, and I don’t want you to hurt yourself because you think it’ll clear something between you and me.”<br/><br/>For a moment, there was silence, except for the wind outside. Then, hesitantly, Blake offered a nod. It was an easy concession to make - even Blake wasn’t sure whether she was lying or not.<br/><br/>“Secondly, just… don’t do anything stupid. And… don’t feel afraid to tell me if<em> I’m</em> doing anything stupid. These promises should go for both of us.” Weiss explained.<br/><br/>Blake wanted to laugh at that - she barely trusted herself right now - she still wasn’t even sure if doing this was the right decision.<br/><br/>She nodded and said “Alright,” anyway, though.<br/><br/>Weiss looked at her for a good long while after that, before she nodded and offered Blake her hand.<br/><br/>“It looks like we’ve got a deal, then.” She said with a faint, sad smile.<br/><br/>Blake glanced to the proffered limb as she took a quiet breath.<br/><br/>“Deal.” Blake said, as clearly as she could, and shook Weiss’ hand.<br/><br/>That, at least, felt right. Blake might have not known quite who she was in that moment anymore, but she knew she wanted to help people. Whoever she ended up being, Blake hoped that would always stay true. She knew this had to be the start of something better - of doing something that really was worth it.<br/><br/>Blake still felt half a monster, really. She knew that just as easily she could have been standing at Adam’s side if things hadn’t changed - still committed to a course that she could see now would lead to nothing but death.<br/><br/>But, if Weiss was what Blake thought she was - maybe just a little crazy, but with a firm grasp of what was right - perhaps she could try and be the kind of monster that did some good for once.<br/><br/>That sounded like a dream, still. But it was a better one than the old one, Blake couldn’t deny.<br/><br/>Things were quiet again, after that. There wasn’t much either of them had left to say.<br/><br/>Blake noticed at some point that she’d pulled herself onto the stiff mattress of the bed, hugging her knees as she sat, balanced on the corner.<br/><br/>“I was hoping,” Blake found herself saying to break the silence, “That this would make everything feel less… frightening.”<br/><br/>“Did it?” Weiss asked, and Blake struggled not to wince at the realisation that she’d said that out loud.<br/><br/>As with a lot of things lately, Blake wasn’t sure why she’d spoken.<br/><br/>Adam would have scolded her for admitting anything like that. Cowardice had no place in the White Fang. She would have rebuked herself for even thinking such doubtful thoughts.<br/><br/>But something about the moment made it feel right to speak about it - about the fear that still crawled in Blake’s head.<br/><br/>“I still feel scared.” She eventually muttered.<br/><br/>There wasn’t any judgement in the Schnee’s gaze - no indication of contempt for Blake’s open lack of nerve. She just… nodded, and looked like she understood.<br/><br/>Blake quirked an eyebrow. “You’re scared too?”<br/><br/>“How couldn’t I be afraid, knowing what’s out there?” Weiss asked, looking out of the room’s windows into the dark - into the wild countryside beyond that would never be free of the Grimm.<br/><br/>Blake shrugged. “You’ve got all of this information. You’ve already changed things. Made things better. I’m just… <em>me</em>.”<br/><br/>Weiss looked like she wanted to question that for a moment, but the other girl just glanced away and shook her head before speaking again.<br/><br/>“I still worry, Blake. I worry whether or not I made the right choices. I still worry about how weak I feel, and how I might never be strong again - not like I remember. And… I still don’t know how to really end all of this. I didn’t remember how it all ended… what happened to… everyone. I’ve still got plenty to be scared about.”<br/><br/>“But?” Blake asked with a hint of hope. There had to be a ‘but’ after that, right?<br/><br/>Blake had been through a lot to make her question how she’d seen things, but she still didn’t think that happy endings were just for the stories. There had to be some hope that things could get better.<br/><br/>“Well, I’ve still got to try. It’s the only thing for a Huntress to do. Fight to the bitter end. It’s what my friends would have done in my place, and... I can’t let them down. Not when I have a chance to make things better.”<br/><br/>“Do you think they will? That things are really going to be better, this time?”<br/><br/>“I think they already are, in some ways.” Weiss replied. “So, yes. I think we’ve got a chance to stop a lot of bad things from happening.”<br/><br/>Then the Schnee glanced away, thinking to herself, before coming back at Blake with an amused look. “Don’t you think you should have asked that <em>before</em> you asked to join up with us?”<br/><br/>Blake huffed, allowing a faint smirk. “Maybe.”<br/><br/>“So, any second thoughts, now that you have?” The other girl asked.<br/><br/>Blake thought over her answer.<br/><br/>“All of this… it’s going to be hard, whatever happens. But being scared together sounds better than being scared alone.” Blake admitted.<br/><br/>“Together.” Weiss repeated, smiling back at Blake. The word felt like a promise.<br/><br/>---<br/><br/><b>Kingdom of Mistral</b><br/><br/>Ozpin couldn’t help but feel a little lighter on his feet as he made his way once more through the streets of bustling streets of Mistral.<br/><br/>The city was abuzz with rumour now that Leo had officially stepped down and announced his early retirement. Fortunately, Ozpin’s part in the matter had not been played up in public - Going by the papers and the words of those around him in the streets, most either accepted the official explanation or saw it as some power play by the Mistral Council.<br/><br/>Mostly, however, the daily life of Mistral’s citizens went on uninterrupted - as honoured as the Huntsmen Academies were, outside of Vacuo and Atlas the position was not an especially public one, and Leo had certainly not been a public individual in his later years.<br/><br/>All that had needed to be done after that was a lengthy conversation with Leo’s successor - one he suspected would not be the last expansion of their group’s numbers in Mistral. Already, he had asked the new Headmaster to consider a few citizens they might think suited to discreetly protecting the secret of the Relic.<br/><br/>It was a change in how things were done, but one Ozpin felt was necessary considering Leo’s circumstances and Miss Schnee’s information.<br/><br/>Now, he ventured down into the lower reaches of the city - the poorer sprawl that contained most of the populace and, depending on who you asked, either much more of the fun or much more of the scum - not that he had the time or the inclination to look for either, at present.<br/><br/>He still had one final piece of business to tend to in Mistral before returning to Vale - concerning one of Miss Schnee’s more surprising revelations, and one that he hoped might prove very useful in the years ahead.<br/><br/>Descending the city of Mistral’s levels was hardly difficult - there were many routes that linked the districts together. Today, Ozpin settled for the more discreet method of simply walking down the complex network of stairways and streets that led to the lower districts.<br/><br/>He passed many familiar sights on his way - though he hadn’t spent much time in Mistral particularly in the last few decades - Mistral was an old city that changed slowly, and he recognised many of the old sights, smells and sounds - ancient, but enduring monuments to heroes past, some he’d known in the flesh; busy coffee houses where the young and old still chatted politics and philosophy, a charming little bookstore or two he could remember visiting often in the lifetimes when he’d called Mistral his home.<br/><br/>Of course, there was little left these days of the earliest memories of Mistral he had, outside of rusted relics in a Museum, back from when the city was nothing more than a simple hillfort on one of the lower mounts, built upon the dreams of the wanderers who had dared to find a new home in the shadow of the mountains. Still, to see that ancient dream enduring was always a sight to warm the heart.<br/><br/>It was a refreshingly nostalgic experience - though he hadn’t the time to stall and enjoy the memories much, they and the bustling populace around him were a welcome distraction. They reminded him of all that his grim work had protected and would, hopefully, continue to protect. They reminded him that the sacrifices he and his allies had and would continue to make were always ultimately worth it.<br/><br/>However, Ozpin soon found the pleasant journey through the memories of the past interrupted by the dangers of today.<br/><br/>It started as a faint <em>crack</em> in the distance, while Ozpin found himself moving through the space of a crowded market square - hardly a sound even a trained Huntsman would note at once and in isolation, especially not amidst the noise of a place as busy as downtown Mistral.<br/><br/>But it became rapidly clear that the gunshots - for that’s what the sounds were - were certainly not occurring in isolation. Whatever was happening in the distant streets, it was certainly quite the fight by Mistral’s standards. Distantly, sirens began to ring out across the city.<br/><br/>Quickly, Ozpin found himself rushing towards the sound - passing from the square, he quickly found a set of ramps that descended further down into the city. People were running in both directions - some nervously seeking to get away from whatever was going on, while others eagerly rushed to get a glimpse of a real fight on the usually peaceful city streets.<br/><br/>Rushing down another set of steps towards a main road, Ozpin heard the telltale buzz of Mistrali airships overhead - several, cutting through the skies of the city in formation, bearing the markings of the local police.<br/><br/>Clearly, whatever was happening was no normal incident.<br/><br/>Soon, however, Ozpin stumbled on an obstacle - the Mistral Police Force had set up barriers at the entrance to the next district, and a group of constables in the signature leather coats of their organisation were blocking all entry. Already, a crowd of curious onlookers were being held back from approaching the ever-closer noise of fighting.<br/><br/>“What is happening, officer?” Ozpin emerged from the crowd and asked the lead police officer - an older man who calmly overlooked the crowd, standing atop a crate to provide a vantage point over the growing crowd of people. Discreetly, he pulled out his scroll and displayed his Huntsman registration. The man’s eyes widened at the sight of Ozpin’s name, but he remained professional as he spoke.<br/><br/>“Apologies, sir, but this district is being locked off for now.” The officer explained. “There’s been some disturbance. White Fang on White Fang, by the looks of it. For public safety we’re trying to contain it while Huntsmen mop up the fighting.”<br/><br/>Ozpin frowned, as the crowd buzzed with rumour at that statement.<br/><br/>Perhaps the incident in Vale had led to changes, even in Mistral. The White Fang openly fighting one another in the streets of Mistral meant that already events had been fundamentally altered from Miss Schnee’s recollection. He would need to return soon - find out what had really happened at Beacon - if he was to try and mend this fresh situation with the White Fang.<br/><br/>With local Huntsmen and Huntresses seeming to have the situation in hand, he bade the constables good luck, and made his way away from the crowd.<br/><br/>It didn’t take long to find another path that led to his destination, but the incident did serve as a bitter reminder, all the same. Even with the immediate situation dealt with, there would always be more work to be done.<br/><br/>He only hoped this problem - this fresh wound at the heart of the Kingdoms - would be treated before it could be left to fester. Without Miss Schnee’s foresight to guide them, few threats would be as easily resolved as the one Lionheart had posed.</p><p> </p><p> </p>
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<a name="section0015"><h2>15. 3.4 - Melt, Part Four</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p><b>Kingdom of Mistral</b><br/><br/>Maria Calavera imagined some would say she lived a comfortable life.<br/><br/>She’d found her own little routine over the years - wake up; feed the cats; make breakfast; exercise, find some way to stave off the inevitable descent into senility she suspected she’d already halfway stumbled into, sometime between getting that second cat and making morning conversation with the skeletal face on her cane.<br/><br/>The house itself was cosy - everything worked, the rooms were just large enough to avoid being uncomfortably tight for someone her size, and the savings she’d kept for a rainy day from the prizes she’d taken in her youth meant she didn’t have to worry about bills or upkeep.<br/><br/>By the standards of many in Mistral, it was something to aspire to. She couldn’t deny that her father had to fight in the war to live half as well as she had over the last few decades - and compared to the past, that she’d been able to get her sight fixed after her injury was a modern marvel, even if getting them fixed meant having to interact with that self-important little <em>battleaxe </em>on the trip through Argus.<br/><br/>It was a nice life. But, in all the years she’d been living it, it often didn’t feel like hers.<br/><br/>There were no trophies to be found in the house - no souvenirs - no memories, except for the ones in her head. Nothing to remind her of the best time of her life, except for the cane that hadn’t always been a cane and the wound that had brought it all to an end.<br/><br/>Nothing to tell other people who she’d been; nothing to remind herself of the dreams she’d once had. For all anyone knew, Maria Calavera had always been old, always lived in this cramped little corner of a cramped little district at the bottom of Mistral with a pair of cats for company.<br/><br/>Still, it was comfortable, or at least, <em>not</em> uncomfortable.<br/><br/>The younger her would have called it complacent, maybe. She certainly would have thought the Maria of today was mad for living like she did. Thinking it over, she probably was.<br/><br/>But losing your sight for a decade or two by way of a sword vigorously applied to the face had a way of changing perspective, in more ways than one.<br/><br/>Maria wasn’t deluded enough to think any of this was good, really, living her cramped, dull little life in a cramped, dull little box, hiding away from the world.<br/><br/>The neighbourhood was pleasant enough, full of mostly good people, which gave her plenty of chances to speak to other human beings every once in a while. But there was always that fear in the back of her head - completely irrational, of course - that she’d mess up - that <em>they’d</em> find her, long after she’d ceased to particularly fear the idea of an untimely death.<br/><br/>It made things… difficult, even if she did enjoy knocking sense into young people’s heads and handing out the kind of unhealthy portions of candy to the children when they came trick or treating she’d wanted when she was their age.<br/><br/>She wasn’t far gone enough to pretend that anything about how she was living would ever make her happy compared to all she’d lost, all she’d run away from, but it was what she’d gotten used to, and for all the years of hiding, she’d not had any reason to suspect things would change.<br/><br/>So, when Maria answered the polite, rhythmic knocking at her door and the old woman looked up to see a tall stick of a man greeting her, she still possessed the impression that today might still be a normal, boring day.<br/><br/>“Hello.” The man began with a warm smile. “I’m-”<br/><br/>“If you’re selling anything, I’m not buying.” Maria cut in, and readied to shut the door in his face.<br/><br/>If he was a salesman, that would usually be enough to scare them off, and if not, then he’d at least get to the point.<br/><br/>Suddenly, the cane held in his hands shot out, and for a moment she was ready to press the switch that would release her cane’s own blade, but Maria’s Semblance, her Preflexes, told her that the idiot wasn’t actually trying to threaten her.<br/><br/>A moment later, and her instincts were proven correct - the cane merely stopped her door in its tracks, as the man’s eyes met her own shining augments.<br/><br/>He’d moved fast - his reflexes were clearly sharper than some. That told her some things. This one was a fighter, in all likelihood.<br/><br/>He was a younger man (Well, younger than she’d been in a long time) and the cut of his suit, together with the fine make of whatever sort of weapon that cane of his was supposed to be, made it clear he wasn’t from around this part of Mistral.<br/><br/>Something about him looked familiar, Maria thought, but not someone she’d met before. Her augmented eyes might have provided only a faint, colourless view of the world, but she didn’t forget a face.<br/><br/>“My apologies, Miss Calavera,” the man said, still smiling disarmingly, “but I would very much like to talk. More specifically, concerning the Grimm Reaper.”<br/><br/>Her eyes narrowed at that. She hadn’t even heard anyone say<em> that</em> name in decades. To hear it mentioned out loud from someone else’s lips left her subtly leaning on her cane to keep standing, as her mind raced with possibilities.<br/><br/>Still, the direct approach was usually the best one, in Maria’s experience.<br/><br/><em>What was the old expression? Cutting the Mistrali Knot?</em><br/><br/>Yes, that had always been her way of going about things, and if she really was going to die, then she’d be damned if she wasn’t going to do how she’d always done things.<br/><br/>“Are you here to kill me?” Maria asked, as calmly as if she were discussing the weather. “It’s certainly taken long enough.”<br/><br/>The shocked look that flashed across the man’s face was enough to tell her this probably wasn’t the case. For starters, he didn’t look the part of an assassin. He didn’t have anything like that smug, predatory glare she remembered seeing on that woman’s face so long ago.<br/><br/>Besides, for all she couldn’t deny she wasn’t the fighter she once was, her Semblance had yet to let her down, and right now her Preflexes didn’t seem to feel he was preparing to attack.<br/><br/>“No. Quite the opposite, in fact.” He assured her. “I’m here to offer you a job.”<br/><br/>The silence stretched out for a few more moments as Maria took in those words. The man showed only a hint of discomfort as Maria’s eyes twitched at him.<br/><br/>“<em>Hmm. </em>Worse, then!” Maria chuckled, breaking the silence.<br/><br/>“Oh, come in,” She said, gesturing to the door with her cane. “I might as well hear the rest of it before I turn you down.”<br/><br/>---<br/><br/><b>Patch, Kingdom of Vale</b><br/><br/>Breakfast the next day was the same as usual - cereal that was already verging on stale, coupled with some instant coffee that made her regret not taking tea like Blake did. The tea at least seemed decent, considering the number of cups Blake had been going through since she’d arrived.<br/><br/>Weiss hadn’t complained, though. The food was still better than anything she’d been fed in <em>that place</em>, though a part of her wondered if that was more to do with the change in circumstances over the quality of the food. It still was enough to keep them warm when the aging Dust heater Qrow had kept installed in the house gave out every now and then.<br/><br/>Of course, Weiss was well used to Atlesian winters - Patch’s winters were mild compared to those in Solitas, which is why she managed with only one of the sweaters Qrow had managed to find while Blake still shivered under three layers over her pyjamas.<br/><br/>None of the clothes Qrow had found for them particularly fit them, in more ways than one. The sweater Weiss had fished out was a warm green, while the outermost layer of Blake’s cocoon was a sort of lightish red that <em>definitely </em>didn’t go with Blake’s… Blakeiness.<br/><br/>Still, they kept them warm, which was good enough for Weiss. Sticking out as Weiss Schnee wasn’t exactly on her agenda right now, anyway.<br/><br/>As for Qrow, cold didn’t seem to bother him. He was out, checking the perimeter. He did that a lot, most days, and now and then the sound of a Grimm dying by gun or blade could be heard echoing out in the distance.<br/><br/>Weiss understood why he could get a little stir-crazy around people. Especially in a rickety old house. So she didn’t complain when he found an excuse to keep an eye on the house from the outside, where he felt his Semblance couldn’t pose too much of a risk.<br/><br/>All in all, things seemed like they hadn’t changed much so far - but in her head, Weiss felt something was different.<br/><br/>Blake was sitting across from Weiss at the kitchen table in the open space of Qrow’s living area, reading silently from an old-looking book as she ate breakfast. But there was something different about how she was sat - she didn’t seem as nervous as she had before.<br/><br/>There were not nearly as many furtive, hastily abandoned glances - she wasn’t rushing breakfast to go sit in a corner on the opposite side of the room. She almost seemed relaxed, which wasn’t how Weiss remembered being at all in the last few days of actually knowing her.<br/><br/>Maybe the night before’s talk had taken as much off of Blake as it had from Weiss.<br/><br/>She was waiting for Blake to speak first, though. As awful as it felt to admit, there was a little bit of her that still wasn’t sure whether their discussion last night had actually happened.<br/><br/>Back in Atlas, she’d gotten used to having entire conversations with her friends to get through the hours and keep the memories in her head. Now that Blake was around, she tried to tone things down, but it seemed that some habits were still hard to break.<br/><br/>Eventually, Blake stopped hesitantly glancing at her from behind her pile of books, took a deep breath, and made her move.<br/><br/>She slid a sheet of paper over towards Weiss’ side of the table.<br/><br/>“What’s this?”<br/><br/>“A piece of paper.” Blake explained dryly, before her expression turned a little apologetic for making the comment.<br/><br/>Weiss huffed gently, rolling her eyes, but the smile that came with it seemed enough to reassure the other girl that she hadn’t actually caused any offense. That seemed to be enough to persuade Blake to keep talking.<br/><br/>“I was thinking that even if you can’t get into training straight away, I thought maybe listing what we knew, what sort of skills we have, could be… useful?” Blake proposed, rolling a pen over in Weiss’ direction.<br/><br/>For a moment, Weiss was too busy trying to repress a feral and entirely undignified cheer to take much notice of what Blake was actually saying.<br/><br/>This meant that the discussion they’d had the night before had been <em>real.</em> Blake was going to stay - Blake was going to help.<br/><br/>Still, distracted as she was, Weiss got the gist of what Blake was talking about after a few seconds.<br/><br/>“Besides, there’s not exactly much else to do other than read Qrow’s collection of… <em>literature</em>, now that sitting around and brooding’s off the table.” Blake said, hastily adding a joke at the end that she sounded oddly proud for coming up with.<br/><br/>Weiss raised an eyebrow at the comment about Qrow’s literature, though. Blake, blushing, simply gave her a look that told her she really didn’t want to know.<br/><br/>“Qrow’s got some very… <em>trashy</em> romances. They’re not very well written.” Blake explained, glancing towards the pile of books she’d assembled on her side of the table.<br/><br/>That wasn’t something Weiss had expected. Qrow had never struck her in either life she’d known him as much of a reader. The idea that he was hoarding badly written romances was as uncharacteristic as it was hilarious.<br/><br/>“I found them lying around in the house,” Blake explained, in a way that was becoming a ramble, “and there wasn’t much else to do, so I just-”<br/><br/>“I’m sure Qrow won’t mind.” Weiss cut in, gently. It was obvious that Blake still felt a little uncertain about her place around here. Weiss wanted to help with that.<br/><br/>“...Right.” Blake accepted with a faint nod. “And what did you think about the other idea?”<br/><br/>Weiss shrugged. “I’ve always been one for planning ahead. This sounds like it’d be a good start.”<br/><br/>She hadn’t cared that things were going to be difficult. She’d been ready to work hard to get back to being strong on her own. But with half of what might have become Team RWBY working together, Weiss didn’t think there was much that could stop them.<br/><br/>---<br/><br/><b>Industrial District, Kingdom of Vale</b><br/><br/>“Most impressive, Mr Torchwick. We should have known it would take filth to catch filth.”<br/><br/>Voices, faint and distant, stirred Adam back into consciousness.<br/><br/>He was… being held - he felt arms gripping his shoulders, holding him up - his hands were bound behind him in some kind of metal cuffs.<br/><br/>All of his senses still felt faint and undefined. He could only barely pick out the voices around him. Adam had no idea who was holding him.<br/><br/>Gritting his teeth as his head ached, Adam slowly remembered what had happened.<br/><br/>Captured. He’d been captured, after the raid.<br/><br/>“Yeah, well, that’s what you get when you pay for quality. Speaking of…?”<br/><br/>“To the point. Of course.” The first voice paused, followed by the sound of a briefcase being opened.<br/><br/>“I trust this will be sufficient?”<br/><br/>“<em>Ooh,</em> that’ll be more than sufficient, foxy. Pleasure doing business with you.”<br/><br/>“We do hope you appreciate the value of… <em>discretion,</em> when it comes to our employment of your… services in this matter.”<br/><br/>“<em>Yeah, yeah.</em> Keep my mouth shut. Don’t worry. I’ve been at this long enough to recognise a bad idea when I see one.”<br/><br/>“Very good.”<br/><br/>The voices were polite, but both failed to hide their contempt for one another, their words packed with tension beneath the false courtesy.<br/><br/>One was known to him - a Faunus, Adam thought, but the name hadn’t yet come back to him. The other sounded almost familiar, but he couldn’t remember how.<br/><br/>Adam blinked as his eyes adjusted to the dim light of wherever they’d moved him. A warehouse, he thought, but he couldn’t see much beyond the faint impression of the room’s shape. The place was lit by flickering electrical Dust lamps - clearly long overdue for a checkup - providing just little enough light to make those who couldn’t see in the dark uncomfortable.<br/><br/>Eventually, however, despite the darkness, Adam realised the speakers were stood fairly close in front of him - close enough to recognise their faces, and what he saw left him scowling.<br/><br/>All around him, White Fang guards stood as silent wardens, hooded in red robes that marked them as the elite bodyguards of the movement, clutching spears that shone with Dust. Their masks were bone white and marked in imitation of a selection of Grimm variants, the subtle red patterns a secret code that denoted unit and rank. Unlike his own, their masks showed nothing of the expression beneath - all emotion hidden behind a cruel veneer.<br/><br/>Adam wasn’t in the state of mind to consider how ironic it was that the guards escorting him to his likely execution had embraced a tradition he started to an even greater degree than himself.<br/><br/>All the same, the masks did nothing to hide the hatred that was directed towards him - the air was filled with the stench of rage. Every spear’s hilt was clutched tightly, and each guard stood ready at a moment’s notice to prevent any attempt at escape.<br/><br/>Their leader was known to him. Corsac Albain - the only Faunus in the room who showed his face beneath the cowl he wore; the leader of the White Fang in Menagerie.<br/><br/>But Adam’s attention wasn’t on the guards, or on Albain. It was on the man who stood at the centre of the occasion, speaking with Albain, and the one who stood out more than any other.<br/><br/>The human criminal who’d bested him, holding his reward for doing Albain’s dirty work.<br/><br/>Adam snarled, straining against his restraints. He felt the firm hands of his captors’ tighten around his arms, and the sound of weapons being readied<br/><br/>“Well, well, look who’s up already! You’re one tough customer, horny.” The criminal grinned, tipping his hat to Adam with a whimsical flourish. His white jacket was haphazardly patched on one arm where he’d cut at it with his Semblance, and the bloodstain still hadn’t been washed out.<br/><br/>None of this seemed to faze the flamboyant human, however, as he glanced down to meet Adam’s eyes.<br/><br/>“<em>You.” </em>Adam hissed, writhing frantically. He was the one who’d ruined <em>everything.</em> Rage filled Adam’s mind as he struggled to inch closer so that he could do something to the human.<br/><br/>“Yeah, me,” The human chuckled, “The guy who kicked your ass and dragged you here.”<br/><br/>“<em>When I get out of here, I’ll-”</em><br/><br/>“Sure you will, pal.” The criminal cut in over Adam’s rambled threats, turning back to Albain as he idly twirled his cane, “Well, it’s been a blast, but I’ve got my money, so have fun with this one.”<br/><br/>The hat-wearing thug made one last glance towards Adam. The grin on his face verged on being manic. “I’d say I’ll be thinking of all the horrible things these guys are probably going to do to you, but I’ve got to be honest.... I’ll probably be too busy enjoying my money to think all that much about you.”<br/><br/>“Still,” The criminal added with a chuckle, “I should probably thank you. Thanks to this job I get a new coat, a better getaway car and the unique experience of finding out what having the moral high ground feels like!”<br/><br/>Adam lungs burned as he screamed, trying his best to lunge in the human’s direction. Only a swift strike to the back of his head from one of the guards managed to silence him.<br/><br/>The redhead simply looked over at Corsac and shrugged.<br/><br/>“He does that.” The human quipped.<br/><br/>Even as he struggled to breathe again, Adam’s eyes didn’t leave the human’s direction as his footsteps echoed out of the warehouse. He wasn’t going to forget that face. He had too many ideas of what to do to the man to ever forget that face.<br/><br/>The human might have been gone, but Adam had more than enough rage left in him as he turned to the smug-looking Albain, who’d clearly paid to have him brought here.<br/><br/>“You worked with humans to get me here?” He growled at the Menagerie leader as the dark-robed Faunus drew closer.<br/><br/>Corsac smirked. The look was all teeth.<br/><br/>“It was a quick and easy solution to the problem you’ve posed to us.” Corsac’s tone was measured as ever, but there was an uncharacteristic touch of whimsy as he stood over Adam. His hands were held confidently behind his back as he leaned closer, and his tail swished lightly as he moved.<br/><br/>“Of course, I had full confidence that we would have you eventually - there was no shortage of warriors promising to bring your head before the High Leader - but this has saved us all a great deal of time and resources. It worked where all else failed, did it not, brother Adam?”<br/><br/>“You’re no brother of mine, <em>traitor.” </em>Adam snarled back, glancing about, looking for something, <em>anything</em> that would get him closer to Albain. He barely moved an inch as the guards continued to hold him tight. One of the guards on the sidelines raised his spear in Adam’s direction, only for Albain to dismiss the show of concern with a placating gesture.<br/><br/>“Truly? <em>I</em> am the traitor here?” Corsac chuckled softly as his smirk turned into a sneer.<br/><br/>“It is you who defied our High Leader; you who has done what no member of the White Fang has done before and drawn the blood of your sworn brothers and sisters.” Corsac continued brusquely, pacing around before glancing back to Adam with contempt in his gaze.<br/><br/>“You betrayed the Faunus when you gave in to the will of that <em>coward</em> Khan! I see now that I am the only one with the strength to lead the Faunus against the humans!” Adam spat, his voice a hoarse growl.<br/><br/>“And yet it is you who now sits powerless, spouting hollow words. You showed a great deal of promise, brother. There were those among the White Fang, myself included, who once thought that your... <em>drive</em> might one day be useful for the future direction of our people. But you’ve done a superb job of showing your… true colours in the last few days.”<br/><br/>Adam continued to struggle in the grip of the guards as Corsac paced about him. Of all the things he’d been gladdened to realise since abandoning Sienna’s futile cause, it was the true colours of so many of the cowards and manipulators that filled the White Fang’s ranks. When he broke free he would be sure to cull their numbers first of all.<br/><br/>“It’s almost amusing, really. You have been an ally of sorts. High Leader Khan is more reliant than ever on the support of Menagerie’s White Fang, now that so many members have proven their lack of reliability. And when I bring you before her throne, she will be even more indebted to our wisdom.”<br/><br/>Adam scowled. The Albains and the White Fang of Menagerie had always preferred politicking to taking action - too obsessed with their shadowed meetings and mysticism.<br/><br/>“And when I break free, I will remember what you’ve done here.” He’d show them. He’d show all of them what he was capable of.<br/><br/>Corsac rolled his eyes.<br/><br/>“Idiot <em>child.</em> You are already dead, and you seem not to notice.” The Menagerie leader hissed. “No one will save you. None of your misguided followers will know where to find you - those who have not already <em>begged </em>for our forgiveness, that is.”<br/><br/>“You underestimate my popularity.” Adam replied through gritted teeth. Already, thousands across the world were spilling blood to make his vision for the Faunus’ future a reality. He wouldn’t be held by any cage Albain could throw him in.<br/><br/>“You gravely overestimate yours,” Corsac countered with a shake of his head. “You have drawn the foolish and the suicidal, but many who once saw you as a promising leader do not forget the disaster you caused at Beacon. Even now our safe havens continue to dwindle because your raids led the humans to discover them. You have erased years of progress.”<br/><br/>Corsac gestured to the dozens of warriors that surrounded them. As one, they silently began to disperse, save the ones closest to Adam, vanishing into the shadows. The faint hum of engines could be heard through the walls.<br/><br/>They were getting ready to leave.<br/><br/>“Make no mistake; no one is coming for you, <em>brother</em>. These guards have sworn oaths to our cause in blood. No honeyed words will convince any of them to release you.”<br/><br/>Corsac made another gesture, and the guards at Adam’s side silently pulled him to his feet. Footsteps approached, and Adam turned his head to see a familiar face that made his scowl only deepen.<br/><br/>Ione had traded her purple coat for the red robes of the guards that surrounded him, and had foregone the avian mask she had worn before. Now her face was bared, hiding none of the anger written on her tanned features as she stepped from the shadows.<br/><br/>Adam stayed silent. Corsac was a fool to trust a weakling like her with his security - Her unwillingness to do what was necessary had forced him to make haste in finding the Schnee - had forced his hand and made him rush the operation, had made<em> Belladonna</em> lose her resolve.<br/><br/>Oh, he had a great many things in mind for the both of them when he got out of these chains.<br/><br/>“I thought it best to ensure your closest guard was one whose loyalty was already proven.” Corsac hummed as the Vacuan coward stepped forward.<br/><br/>“Why hello there, Taurus.” The smile Ione wore didn’t match the spite in her eyes as she stood beside Corsac.<br/><br/>“I have nothing to say to cowards like you.” Adam sneered, looking down to the floor.<br/><br/>Adam felt a flash of pain as Ione’s fist collided with his jaw - before the groggy Faunus had the chance to activate his Aura - while it didn’t break anything, Adam felt warm blood in his mouth as he stumbled in the grip of his guards.<br/><br/>“Oh, don’t worry - I’ve got <em>plenty</em> of things to talk about on my end. Like how you screwed up <em>exactly</em> like I said you would - after you knocked me out and left me in a cage for three days without food or water.” The Vacuan spat, grabbing Adam’s head by the horns and pulling him up to meet her gaze.<br/><br/><em>“Bitch…” </em>Adam hissed, feeling the Aura close up the bloody wound. After a moment, he spat blood onto the floor, watching a tooth clatter against the concrete.<br/><br/>Rage flashed through his mind. They were all <em>weaklings. </em>He was going to make them all <em>hurt </em>when he got out - he was going to make them all <em>pay.</em><br/><br/>The second strike didn’t draw blood - but it still left Adam stunned and struggling to draw breath. It took a while before he could see out of his good eye again, and everything ached as he hung limp in the guards’ grasp.<br/><br/>The next thing he saw was Ione’s grinning features, the avian Faunus kneeling down to speak to him face to face.<br/><br/>“At least I’ll look you in the eyes before I send you on your way, Taurus. Did you even spare a thought for the idiots you sent into that mess when you turned tail and ran?”<br/><br/>Corsac chuckled, making no move to restrain Ione from continuing as he looked over at Adam’s limp, shaking form.<br/><br/>“I’m sure that the two of you have a great deal to… <em>catch up</em> <em>on. </em>We will speak again, brother, when you are brought beneath the High Leader’s throne.”<br/><br/>With that, Corsac turned to Ione, his tone losing all of its mirth. “Do not take any chances. He <em>must </em>be delivered to Mistral alive.”<br/><br/>“Oh, he won’t be getting the jump on me this time.” Ione said, drawing a hefty shock-prod from her belt, the weapon sparking with Lightning Dust as she activated it. She glanced down, towards Adam’s legs.<br/><br/>“He can walk, if he behaves... or he can be carried. High Leader Khan doesn’t need his kneecaps.”<br/><br/>---<br/><br/><b>Kingdom of Mistral</b><br/><br/>Maria Calavera’s home was one Ozpin would politely describe as… snug.<br/><br/>Each room could only be described as a cubicle, the stairs narrow and steep to make as much space as possible, a plethora of shelves ascending to the ceiling storing what couldn’t fit any lower. A pair of cats lazily lounged atop the shelves by the living area, glaring downwards at the new human in the room with imperious detachment.<br/><br/>Ozpin was more than familiar with living on modest funds, but there was something else about the unremarkable nature of the home - something very deliberate in how nondescript it all was.<br/><br/>No pictures were to be seen hung in the house beyond a cat-themed calendar that hung askew on one of the walls. Nothing about the place showed any sign that its current resident was not only a former Huntress, but was once one of the greatest fighters of her generation. As far as the home was concerned, it seemed that the sole resident was nothing more than an ordinary woman.<br/><br/>Of course, that was precisely the point, he suspected. Ozpin’s predecessors had gone into hiding enough times to remember the fundamentals.<br/><br/>As for the Grimm Reaper herself, Maria Calavera struck Ozpin as someone who was easy enough to like, so long as you weren’t the target of her ire. There was a directness to her, a certain brutal honesty, as well as a repressed eagerness at the opportunity to discuss her former work as a Huntress.<br/><br/>Ozpin had turned down coffee, but accepted Maria’s offer of tea. While the kettle set to boiling, the pair sat at her cramped kitchen table, nestled in the corner of the small cubicle.<br/><br/>“So, how did Beacon’s headmaster find me?” The old woman asked, shining blue lenses narrowed in his direction as her fingers tapped against the table’s surface.<br/><br/>“I’d prefer if my source remained confidential,” Ozpin explained. “Besides, I suspect it’d be quite hard to believe unless you met with them in person.”<br/><br/>“You’re here, aren’t you? That seems proof enough that your source can be trusted. Still... what exactly do you think you know about me?” She asked.<br/><br/>The kettle screamed, and Maria hopped off the chair to begin making the pair of them a cup each. The scent was familiar - a popular Mistral blend that had been common for centuries. It was a cheap blend - available on every street corner, but it couldn’t help but remind him of old times. Many a foxhole had been brightened in the past at the arrival of a fresh pot of tea wafting that scent through the air.<br/><br/>“I know of your exploits as the Grimm Reaper, I know how you were injured… and the reason you were attacked.” Ozpin spoke as the tea was poured. Maria didn’t spill a drop as she held the pot, even if he could tell that she was surprised at someone so openly and easily knowing what she’d kept secret for so long.<br/><br/>She glanced back, the crude, bulky lenses of Maria’s eyes quirked with what Ozpin took for curiosity. “You know about my eyes, then? Not these old things - the ones I was born with.”<br/><br/>“I’m afraid my knowledge concerning the nature of silver eyes has always been… limited,” Ozpin explained, “I’ve met few with the gift, and their understanding of their powers was often little better than mine.”<br/><br/>Ozpin tried not to think about his dear friend as he spoke. It was difficult not to. It was in many respects for her that he was doing this, so easily and openly inviting a stranger into his trust.<br/><br/>“The older generations seem to have done a miserable job preserving their knowledge,” Maria huffed as she placed their cups on the table and clambered back onto her chair, “even my father had only scraps of hearsay to work with in his day.”<br/><br/>“I’m afraid that some part of that might be due to those who would wish to see your gift snuffed out.”<br/><br/>Much as with the Maidens, the power of those with silver eyes was also that which marked them out - made them all the more easy to isolate and destroy. Suppressing what knowledge there was of them only made that task easier for Salem’s forces.<br/><br/>Maria tapped the lenses of her augmented eyes “Oh, I’m more than aware. There was… a master, someone who wanted me dead - because of my eyes, apparently. My attackers weren’t particularly forthcoming with more details.”<br/><br/>“What if I were to tell you that such an individual continues to threaten the Kingdoms from the shadows?” Ozpin spoke carefully, and the woman’s expression shifted from curiosity to something else.<br/><br/>“You mean these people are still around? Still hunting us?” She asked, her voice suddenly sharp as a blade.<br/><br/>Hesitantly, Ozpin nodded. “I’m afraid that their intentions are far greater, far worse, than simply that. If you were to agree to my offer, I would be able to tell you more.”<br/><br/>“Teaching at Beacon?” Maria pondered, looking over into Ozpin’s brown eyes with a thoughtful look. “You’ve got someone with my gift you think I could help.” She stated in a way that wasn’t a question.<br/><br/>“The knowledge of the Grimm Reaper would be more than enough of a benefit for Beacon Academy,” Ozpin replied with genuine sincerity.<br/><br/>“But I am told there’s a remarkable girl living in Patch who wishes to become a Huntress, one day. A girl with silver eyes. It would be beneficial if, when she does attend Beacon, there was a teacher who could guide her in the use of that talent better than I.”<br/><br/>Maria glanced away, looking over at the wall, or perhaps past it at something only she could see. She was thinking, perhaps weighing up her options, or pondering her own past.<br/><br/>“Hmm…” She finally said, after a while, “The irresistible call to action paired with an appeal to my vanity? You’re an old hand at this, aren’t you?”<br/><br/>Ozpin chuckled, the sound only slightly sad. “You could say I’m familiar with bringing old legends out of retirement.”<br/><br/>---<br/><br/><b>Patch, Kingdom of Vale</b><br/><br/>As it turned out, going over their respective skills had been a good way to finally break down the last of the barriers between Weiss and Blake that had kept things so silent.<br/><br/>Blake had been nervous at first, but that awkwardness had given way as she eagerly explained the technical know-how she’d picked up to Weiss. Now, she radiated a quiet enthusiasm that Weiss faintly remembered from better times.<br/><br/>Blake might still have been a novice fighter, but as it turned out, she’d already picked up plenty of skills among the White Fang at this point. She knew the basics of picking locks, of tinkering with the kind of Atlas tech the SDC used for security, as well as how to get <em>around</em> security in the first place. Weiss wasn't sure she'd ever figure out how Blake managed to be so quiet, and it sounded like she'd always had a talent for stealth.<br/><br/>As much as she couldn’t ignore why they were having this conversation, Weiss also found herself actually having a strange sort of fun speaking with Blake.<br/><br/>Being able to just… <em>talk</em> to Blake again, even about nothing in particular, felt good. Everything felt better than it had before, outside of her memories. Especially if it meant helping a friend. Whatever Blake needed to learn - to get stronger, Weiss was happy to help. This wasn't just about helping herself. She wanted to do all of this to help others.<br/><br/>The first sheet of paper had been joined by two more as the pair summed up their skills and explained the basics of what they knew how to do and how it could be used.<br/><br/>If there was one thing that had been burned into Weiss’ mind from remembering her past in Beacon, it was the efficient organisation of study notes.<br/><br/>Weiss finished speaking as Blake’s eyes trailed over her latest diagram - arrows jutting off from a central description of her Semblance, different aspects of her Glyphs falling under labelled sections.<br/><br/>Admittedly, she might have gotten just a <em>little </em>carried away, but it was good to see she wasn’t all that rusty when it came to academic matters.<br/><br/>“That’s… a <em>very </em>versatile Semblance.”<br/><br/>“It was at the centre of how I fought. Now,” Weiss concluded sadly, “it’s a bit of a problem.”<br/><br/>Blake nodded in understanding, eyes drawn to the glyph Weiss had faintly drawn on the paper.<br/><br/>“You’re trying not to be Weiss Schnee. And your Semblance tells everyone who sees it what family you come from.”<br/><br/>“And pretty much everything I remember about fighting involved using it.” Weiss huffed, fiddling idly with a strand of her black hair.<br/><br/>She wasn’t afraid of sacrificing that part of herself, her name, even if it would be that way for years. The idea of being the Schnee heiress had never been real to her, really. Important as it had felt to her in her memories, the whole idea of her family felt… distant.<br/><br/>They were all just memories, and few of them were happy ones. Helping the world without having her father or anyone else looking for her was worth moving past them.<br/><br/>She quickly suppressed the idea of Winter that threatened to cut into her thoughts - tried to ignore how things had ended both times she’d last seen her sister, each just about as bad, as painfully <em>final </em>as the other. There was no point to it - that was all done, and it wasn’t likely she’d get a chance to repair things for a long time.<br/><br/>Winter would be better off not worrying about her, anyway.<br/><br/>As for Whitley…There was even less she could think about doing to help him this time around.<br/><br/>At the very least, Weiss considered, she’d always have her Semblance, even if she couldn’t use it where anyone could see. She was still Weiss to herself.<br/><br/>“Well,” Blake offered, “if what you’ve told me is true, you’ve got plenty of time to figure out a new technique. I can give you a few tips, once you’re up for actual training. And I’m sure Qrow will have some ideas. He seems to know what he’s doing.”<br/><br/>“The benefits of having a global conspiracy run by schoolteachers.” Weiss muttered. She glanced down at the page, where she’d faintly written the word ‘<em>Myrtenaster’.</em><br/><br/>Even if she couldn’t get the rapier she remembered back, anything would be an upgrade from the pilfered shortsword she still had up in her bedroom.<br/><br/>“Still, that’s a problem for another day,” She eventually said, looking back over at Blake. “I still need to get better first.”<br/><br/>“How long do you think that will take?” Blake asked.<br/><br/>“The Doctor said it would probably be a few months of the doses, and the physical therapy, before I could think about any sort of serious training.” Weiss elaborated, briefly flaring her Aura, relishing the sensation. That at least was getting easier to do already.<br/><br/>She’d already taken her daily dose of the drugs that morning - a faintly foul-tasting collection of tablets that kept her Aura faint and weak and made everything a little more distant. Still, they were better than they’d been in Atlas - she took them voluntarily, for one. That made things easier.<br/><br/>The fact that she could feel her Aura, let alone have a conversation, was evidence enough that the dose was much reduced - just enough to stop her body from feeling its absence. The withdrawal effects at their worst were apparently.... less than pleasant. She’d take a little unpleasantness for a few months if it meant avoiding that.<br/><br/>“It’s not bad,” Weiss assured Blake, “I don’t feel as... absent as I used to, but it is irritating.”<br/><br/>“Well, we can work with months." Blake said, nodding to herself thoughtfully. "Things didn’t really start going wrong until three years from now, right?”<br/><br/>Weiss confirmed that with a nod of her own.<br/><br/>“And with what I’ve done already, it might take much longer before <em>she </em>can cause much trouble.” She explained. Blake looked reassured at the idea.<br/><br/>Of course, it was also possible that Salem would find a chance to cause problems far sooner, as well. But there wasn't much Weiss could do to stop that, not right now, not anymore than what she'd already done by telling Ozpin and his allies what she knew.<br/><br/>“But enough about me,” Weiss added hastily, trying to avoid thinking much of hypotheticals, “I’d like to talk about your Semblance.”<br/><br/>The idea had been buzzing in the back of her head since Blake had described her Semblance - or, rather, how Blake <em>hadn’t </em>described her Semblance.<br/><br/>She’d talked about how she left behind shadow clones, but she hadn’t said about any of the other elements that Weiss remembered the old Blake using.<br/><br/>Blake’s ears had flicked up, as the Faunus girl looked directly at Weiss, eyes filled with an eager curiosity she wasn’t doing a good job at hiding.<br/><br/>“My Semblance? You mean... I figured out how to make it do more?” Blake asked.<br/><br/>“You’re surprised? Most people who figure out their Semblances get better at them over time.”<br/><br/>Blake shrugged, scratching at the back of her head nervously.<br/><br/>“Oh, I know. It’s just.... People always said I was lucky to figure mine out, but I guess I thought it wasn’t very… up front. Not like yours. Mine’s just good for… running away.”<br/><br/>Weiss held in the reply she first wanted to make as she looked over at the other girl. There was so much she wanted to say; to tell her that Blake Belladonna was a lot of things, but she wasn’t a coward; that she was one of the most courageous people she’d ever known, even if she knew that Blake and her weren’t in the right place to say it.<br/><br/>Knowing that didn’t silence the part of her that very much wanted to give the other girl a hug, though.<br/><br/>“Well, there are plenty of ways your Semblance could come in handy in a fight, more than you probably already know. Using Dust, for instance.” Weiss eventually chose to say, hoping her voice didn’t sound quite as bad as she felt.<br/><br/>“Dust?” Blake asked, puzzled.<br/><br/>“Your Semblance’s copies can take on the properties of Dust elements.”<br/><br/>Blake’s face went from distant to thoughtful as she imagined the implications.<br/><br/>“Huh. That sounds… pretty useful in a fight.”<br/><br/>Weiss smiled faintly.<br/><br/>“It was.”<br/><br/>She remembered Blake telling them how she’d taken down Roman Torchwick on the train at Mountain Glenn - turning her clone’s body into rapidly-solidifying ice was a clever way of immobilizing opponents.<br/><br/>“Well, I can think of a few tips for both of you.” Qrow’s voice burst in from behind.<br/><br/>Anything else he wanted to say was cut off as Blake and Weiss both yelped at the sudden appearance of the Huntsman leaning against the doorway. As usual, he smelt faintly of alcohol, and his boots still bore traces of snow from his morning patrol around the house.<br/><br/>Weiss simply flinched at the surprise, but Blake had leapt from her chair, falling into a crouch at the other end of the room, ears flat against her head as she glared daggers at Qrow. She rose back up to stand, but slowly, her eyes not leaving the Huntsman as he moved up to the table, looking over the pair’s notes with a few quick glances.<br/><br/>“<em>Qrow.” </em>Weiss hissed. Sometimes she wondered if he set out to get people to dislike him.<br/><br/>“Sorry. Didn’t realise I was being all that quiet...” Qrow replied sheepishly, idly shaking his flask in his hands as he continued reading.<br/><br/>“You’re an ass.” The Faunus girl muttered, walking over to slump onto the living room’s couch while she continued to look suspiciously at the Huntsman.<br/><br/>“Bird, actually. Didn’t Weiss fill you in on that part?” Qrow replied.<br/><br/>“<em>Qrow, </em>how long have you been listening to us?” Weiss cut in, burying her head in her hands.<br/><br/>“About two minutes. Good to see you two’ve worked out your little issues. All very heartwarming stuff.”<br/><br/>“Why’d you feel the need to interrupt?” Blake asked sourly from her corner.<br/><br/>“First of all, it’s my kitchen. Second of all, assuming I’ve heard right, you plan to be sticking around.” He asked, sending a questioning glance in Weiss’ direction.<br/><br/>She looked over at Blake, who nodded faintly.<br/><br/>“As long as you’re helping people, that’s the plan.” Blake replied quietly.<br/><br/>“Well, then, I can help out. I am a teacher, after all.”<br/><br/>At Blake’s dubious look, Qrow sighed deeply, taking a swig from the ever-present flask.<br/><br/>“Look, I’m sorry if we’ve gotten off on the wrong foot. Really. I’m not gonna deny I was suspicious of you at first, even if Weiss here wasn’t. You’re a-”<br/><br/>“I know what I am.” Blake cut him off with a sad glare, feline ears twitching above her head. Qrow at least had the decency to look sorry.<br/><br/>Weiss suddenly felt very uncomfortable, sat between the pair. There had been a silent tension between Qrow and Blake since the older Huntsman had first laid eyes on the Faunus girl, but they’d barely spoken since arriving at the house.<br/><br/>“I didn’t mean it like <em>that.” </em>Qrow muttered. “I didn’t trust you because you tried to attack me and kidnap her, not because you’re a Faunus. I’m an asshole, not a racist.”<br/><br/>Blake at least accepted the clarification, even if the look on her face told Weiss it hadn’t made her feel much better.<br/><br/>“Point is,” Qrow went on, “listening to you two over the last few days, I’m starting to think she didn’t make a mistake, bringing you into this. You seem to want to make a fresh start of things. You’re not the first kid to try and make something better for themselves after coming out of a rough crowd. I get that.” He added quietly, the tone of his voice almost wistful.<br/><br/>Blake looked a little confused, glancing over at Weiss, who shrugged in a way that she hoped conveyed ‘<em>tell you later’. </em>She knew full well what Qrow was talking about.<br/><br/>“Plus, going by our, uh… first <em>encounter</em>, you do seem to have some idea of what you’re doing. That’s a good place to start from.”<br/><br/>“What do you have in mind?” Blake asked, sounding a little less irritated with the man and more bemused.<br/><br/>“Tomorrow, we can start going over what you know properly. Based on your chat with Schnee, looks like you’ve got a liking for stealth and you’ve got the makings of a decent fighting style already worked out for you, which is better than some students your age I’ve worked with, so we’ll see what you can do, get you on the training wheels. If you’re up for it.”<br/><br/>Blake glanced between Qrow and Weiss again, silently thinking things over to herself.<br/><br/>“Alright.” She said quietly.<br/><br/>“Glad to hear it.” Qrow replied, turning his gaze over at Weiss. “This’ll be good for you too, kid. Even if you’re not ready to start training, you can still learn a few things from the Qrow Branwen school of doing things.”<br/><br/>Qrow sighed, scratching at the back of his head as he looked between the girls. “Alright, now that that's sorted, I’ll leave you two to it. I can tell when I’m getting in the way.”<br/><br/>With that, the Huntsman walked off, footsteps faintly echoing through the house as he headed upstairs.<br/><br/>As silence fell, Weiss was relieved to see Blake walking over, taking up the seat at the kitchen table she’d been using before Qrow had stepped in.<br/><br/>“Does he have to be like that?” Blake groaned, looking over in the direction that Qrow had left in.<br/><br/>“He’s not that bad once you get used to him.” Weiss told her. She remembered Qrow being almost like family, once they'd reached Atlas. A bit rough around the edges, but someone she could trust, all the same.<br/><br/>“Right.”<br/><br/>“If you don’t want his help, he’s not going to force you to accept it.” Weiss told her.<br/><br/>Gently, Blake shook her head with a sigh.<br/><br/>“Back at Beacon… he did a good job protecting you. I guess he probably does know what he’s talking about. I <em>do</em> want to help, and that means we both need to keep learning. I don’t see any other qualified teachers around, so… I’ll see what he has to say.”<br/><br/>Weiss thought of how Ruby had spoken highly of her uncle, telling her teammates eagerly of how he’d taught her how to fight with one of the world’s most dangerous weapons.<br/><br/>Weiss knew that whatever training he had in mind for her, it’d be like nothing she remembered. Nothing at all like the lessons she’d had at this age last time.<br/><br/>That had her just a little excited. She thought it’d be good to learn something new this time around.<br/><br/>---<br/><br/><b>Kingdom of Mistral</b><br/><br/>The discussion had carried on for hours after that, as the pair burned through more cups of tea in Maria’s cramped little kitchen.<br/><br/>In truth, Maria had made her mind up quite a while ago - she’d never been one to spend too long weighing up her options once all the facts were in front of her.<br/><br/>Still, it had been… good to have someone to talk to, for once. She might not have made her mind up about this Ozpin fellow just yet, but he certainly was a talker.<br/><br/>Professor Ozpin’s offer was undeniably generous. A larger and more consistent salary than she’d ever seen in her life, accomodation at Beacon, all in exchange for sharing her own knowledge and helping the next generation prepare themselves as Huntsmen and Huntresses.<br/><br/>Apparently, Ozpin’s mysterious source had a great deal of confidence in her ability to inspire. Strange, that, but Ozpin just told her he would be able to tell her if she agreed to aid his group.<br/><br/>He did like that word - ‘group’. Maria supposed the word ‘conspiracy’ put too sinister a light on it.<br/><br/>Because that was clearly what he was getting at - a conspiracy. That in itself was enough to make Maria curious. She wondered just what else had been going on behind the shadows that she’d missed in her youth; ignored right up until those very shadows had nearly killed her.<br/><br/>Whatever Ozpin was up to - whatever his real intentions were, she knew the only way to find out more would be to say 'yes'. And she'd always enjoyed a good mystery to sniff out, back in the old days. Besides, she was half-sure he'd been mostly honest up until that point. Knowing what he knew was enough for her to trust that what he was saying weren't lies.<br/><br/>As for their supposed enemy, Maria wasn’t a particularly vengeful woman - she’d extracted hers the day she’d been injured, then a little more once she'd finally gotten her surgery.<br/><br/>But, hearing it now, she couldn’t deny that a chance to extract a little payback, to help the young ones from repeating her own mistakes if and when she made it to Beacon, sounded good.<br/><br/>“I take it that you accept our offer, then?” Ozpin asked after a while.<br/><br/>Maria set down her cup, absent-mindedly scratching at the casing of her eyes as she glanced over at Ozpin.<br/><br/>“I have hidden here for... a <em>very long time</em>. It’s my own fault. I was afraid. Still am, I suppose. I’ve hated myself for it, but I’d made my peace with the fact that I was beyond helping anyone other than myself.<br/><br/>“I’d thought that time had passed me by. Even if I went out there and tried to help anyone, who’d listen to some old bat?<br/><br/>“Now you’re offering me a chance to help someone else avoid my mistakes?”<br/><br/>She looked around at the drab little box that surrounded the pair of them. Her home. Her prison, really.<br/><br/>There wasn’t much she’d miss at the end of the day. Not if it meant protecting others again. Not if it meant making things right. Staying here had always been an abandonment of her duty as a Huntress - something she’d been able to ignore, up until now.<br/><br/>Now, however, the chance to do something was staring her in the face, and she didn’t exactly find much in the way of reasons <em>not </em>to accept.<br/><br/>“How soon can we leave?” She asked the professor. Ozpin's smile felt nostalgic as he answered.<br/><br/>“Haste would be appreciated, but if you need time to make arrangements, feel free to take-”<br/><br/>“Nonsense. I won’t be needing to take much to make the journey to Vale. A Huntress always travels light.”</p><p> </p><p> </p>
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<a name="section0016"><h2>16. 3.5 - Melt, Part Five</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p><b>Patch, Kingdom of Vale</b><br/><br/>Weiss watched from where she sat, riveted by the sight before her.<br/><br/>Qrow’s blade rushed through the air with astonishing speed for a weapon of its size, as the Huntsman tried his best to reach his target.<br/><br/>Blake, however, moved like a fluid around Qrow’s strikes, rushing across the ground with speed, using her Semblance to dodge the strikes that came closest. They were moving quickly, dredging up clouds of snow as they rushed through the clearing outside of Qrow’s house.<br/><br/>It had been a few hours since Qrow had started going over Blake’s combat technique. First, it had been basic things - looking over Blake’s weapon, figuring out what she knew.<br/><br/>Now, they were going through more practical tests, while Weiss sat from the sidelines. Even in the day, the cold still had a bite outside, so she wrapped up in a coat, watching while Qrow and Blake moved faster than she could dream of doing.<br/><br/>Blake had been dodging Qrow’s strikes for the last ten minutes, showing the Huntsman the extent of what she could do with her Semblance along with her own agility.<br/><br/>Eventually, Blake moved just a little too slowly, and Qrow’s blade raced downwards with lightning speed as the Huntsman made a two-handed strike.<br/><br/>The weapon moved towards Blake in a rush of steel, and just as quickly, halted entirely, as the Huntsman tapped the Faunus girl lightly on the shoulder with the flat side of the sword.<br/><br/>“Gotcha.” Qrow declared with a smirk.<br/><br/>Beaten, Blake slumped to the ground, gasping for breath. She’d put on a good showing, but she was still just a fourteen year old. There was only so much she could do before her Aura and her muscles failed her.<br/><br/>Qrow meanwhile showed no signs of fatigue as he walked over to sit on a nearby fallen log poking out of the snow.<br/><br/>“That Semblance of yours is definitely handy.” Qrow told the Faunus girl as the pair caught their breath.<br/><br/>Weiss hopped to her feet, moving to give the girl a hand up.<br/><br/>“That was great, Blake.” She enthusiastically told the Faunus girl. “I don’t think I’d ever be able to move that fast without my Glyphs.”<br/><br/>“Doesn’t <em>feel</em> great.” Blake groaned on the ground, though she failed to mask the hint of a grin as she sat back. After a few more moments catching her breath, Blake accepted the offered hand, letting the Schnee pull her to her feet.<br/><br/>“...Thanks.” Blake said quietly, before looking back at Qrow.<br/><br/>“Alright, Belladonna, that was good for a start. Course, that was one-on-one.” The Huntsman continued speaking, “Against multiple opponents, it won’t be as easy. You’ve got to be aware of everything going around you. Still, half of the fight’s not getting hit before you can make attacks of your own.”<br/><br/>“What’s next, then?” Blake asked, walking over to lean against a tree as she rested, rubbing a patch of sweat off her forehead.<br/><br/>“What’s next is we take a break. We’ve been at this for a while already. Besides, I could use a refill.” Qrow replied, gesturing to the empty flask in his hand.<br/><br/>Weiss, closest to the house, was the first to make out the sound of footsteps trudging through the snow, coupled with the steady crunch of a cane.<br/><br/>All eyes turned to the sight of Professor Ozpin walking into the clearing.<br/><br/>“Professor?” Weiss asked.<br/><br/>“Oh, don’t mind me. I didn’t want to interrupt. Seeing a former pupil taking up teaching is always an inspiring sight.” Ozpin spoke warmly, glancing between the three of them.<br/><br/>“Oz?” Qrow’s eyes widened at the sight of the headmaster. “Wasn’t expecting to see you here any time soon.”<br/><br/>Qrow had received a message a day ago telling them that Ozpin had made it back into Vale, but as with most things, they’d have to wait to meet in person before Ozpin could divulge how things had gone in Mistral beyond what was already on the news.<br/><br/>Ozpin smiled, but Weiss saw something sad in his eyes. “I’m afraid that the present circumstances should make leaving Vale proper somewhat… impractical in the weeks ahead. I thought it best to visit Patch while I still had some free time to discuss matters with you.”<br/><br/>“Well, it’s good to have you back, either way.” Qrow told him as he got to his feet, scraping off the layer of snow that covered him.<br/><br/>“It’s certainly good to be back in Vale. There is, I regret, a great deal to attend to.” Ozpin said.<br/><br/>With that, Ozpin’s eyes turned back to Weiss.<br/><br/>“Miss Schnee. I’m pleased to see that you remain in good health, considering what’s happened since our last meeting.” The Beacon Headmaster noted with a faint smile.<br/><br/>“I made it out alright, Professor - thanks to Qrow and Blake.” She said, inclining her head to the pair who now stood before him.<br/><br/>Ozpin offered a respectful nod to the Faunus girl.<br/><br/>“Miss Belladonna. It was certainly quite a surprise to hear that you were here. From what I’ve heard, what you did was very courageous.”<br/><br/>Blake’s ears twitched nervously as she looked at the professor.<br/><br/>“Professor Ozpin. I’ve… heard a lot about you.”<br/><br/>Weiss noticed how her quiet voice had taken on a neutral tone - the kind she’d used speaking to Qrow in the first few days before she’d come close to making her mind up on him.<br/><br/>Weiss supposed it wasn’t surprising after what she’d found out about Ozpin that Blake would have a few doubts. Weiss had plenty herself. Even if the old man was trying his best, there was a lot Weiss was trusting him with just because he was the only one who could do anything. When they were older, when they were ready, she had no intention of just following the wizard's lead. <br/><br/>Ozpin gestured to the house with his cane. “Shall we discuss matters somewhere slightly warmer, perhaps?”<br/><br/>---<br/><br/>“I am happy to report that our business in Mistral proceeded without violence.” Ozpin said as he began to retell the outcome of his journey.<br/><br/>The three of them were sat in the comparative warmth of Qrow’s home, though in truth, only Ozpin seemed somewhat comfortable seated around Qrow’s kitchen table. Weiss couldn’t help but cling to the edge of her own seat, nervously scratching at the side of the table as Ozpin spoke, while Qrow opted to stand.<br/><br/>Blake wasn’t with them; she’d hung around outside, saying she needed to give her weapons a once-over. It was an excuse, but Weiss understood it. She was still new to all this, still unsure. That was fine, though. She’d explain anything that was important afterwards, anyway.<br/><br/>“Leonardo was cooperative in the end. I’m not sure whether it was reason or fear that compelled him to surrender without a fight, but he is now safe in Atlesian custody, where he can do no further harm.”<br/><br/>“Well, that’s good.” Weiss let out a deep breath as she finally let herself slump back into the chair.<br/><br/>Hearing that Mistral was no longer at risk from Lionheart - It was like a weight she’d been carrying for years was finally gone, or at least part of it.<br/><br/>Being locked in that place, knowing that so much was going on that she could stop had made it hard to sleep, hard to take a moment’s rest, for all those years.<br/><br/>Now, things really were better. Leo couldn’t help them hurt anyone anymore. Mistral was safe. Beacon was safe. Her friends would be safe.<br/><br/>She’d finally started to make things right.<br/><br/>It felt strangely anticlimactic to think that so much had been already averted with a conversation, but it was a sort of feeling Weiss wouldn’t mind getting used to.<br/><br/>“How much are we talking about in terms of damage control?” Qrow asked, leaning over the table as he tapped at the rim of a glass of something alcoholic.<br/><br/>Ozpin, meanwhile, sipped at his own flask. It was Beacon Academy brand, and Weiss doubted the contents were as potent as Qrow’s, considering Ozpin’s sweet tooth.<br/><br/>“Well, needless to say, now that we’re aware that Arthur Watts is in the enemy’s employ, James has Atlesian technicians overhauling as much of our security as can be managed in order to counter the Doctor’s familiarity with their code.”<br/><br/>“Yeah, that’s <em>real </em>encouraging. My money’s still on the guy who knows Atlas cybersecurity like the back of his hand.” Qrow huffed. “Until that’s sorted, maybe we should stick to meeting in places where we know he can’t have eyes.”<br/><br/>Once, Weiss might have called out Qrow’s ever-present suspicion of Atlas, but that would have been a long time ago. Now, she found herself silently agreeing with him. Even knowing a hacker of Watts calibre was allied with Salem hadn’t stopped him from continuing to cause havoc last time in Atlas.<br/><br/>“We will certainly have to keep a closer eye on our data security in the future.” Ozpin said. “The CCT network is a valuable unifier, but as Miss Schnee told us, when placed in the right hands it can just as easily become a tool to cause chaos. We already have eyes looking for any of Salem’s accomplices, and I think we’d all be able to sleep easier knowing that Arthur Watts was in custody.”<br/><br/>“Otherwise, Leo revealed the extent to which Salem knows our secrets. I'm afraid to say that every plan, every ally, every resource that we have had access to these past few years is known to her now.”<br/><br/>Ozpin’s look turned especially sorry as he continued to speak, looking over at Weiss.<br/><br/>“Additionally, his last report to her mentioned the information I relayed concerning our search for Miss Schnee, and how she was possibly a helpful source of useful intelligence against our enemy. He knew none of the details of your circumstances, of course, but… I am sorry for the… <em>misstep</em>, Miss Schnee.”<br/><br/>Weiss felt the sympathetic looks coming from the pair of them.<br/><br/>“...You had no way of knowing, Professor.” Weiss’ voice was faint, distant even to herself as she spoke, registering what Ozpin had told her.<br/><br/>She took a deep breath. Really, the knowledge that the primordial enemy of civilisation knew her name should have been terrifying, but last time she’d done far more to hurt Salem, and she’d been able to press on then.<br/><br/>Of course, that was when she’d had her family with her. Things were different now.<br/><br/>But she couldn’t give up. She couldn’t let this frighten her. They wouldn’t have. They would have kept going. So that’s what she was going to do.<br/><br/>“Weiss?” Qrow asked, and the girl realised she must have lost track of time thinking.<br/><br/>“I’m fine. Really.” Weiss whispered with a shake of her head, bringing herself back into the present, looking to Ozpin to continue.<br/><br/>Ozpin’s look only grew sorrier at that, but he pressed on.<br/><br/>“At any rate,” The Headmaster continued speaking, “the breach in our defenses has been repaired. We may now focus on the new matters that face us.<br/><br/>“I’m glad to report that Miss Calavera has agreed to assist us. She’ll be beginning work at Beacon at the start of the next school year, teaching several classes she deemed relevant to her own experiences.”<br/><br/>Weiss found herself smirking at the idea of Maria being given control of a classroom - grateful for the distraction of the idea. The students were definitely going to learn a lot of things from the old Huntress.<br/><br/>“Her classes are definitely going to be... <em>memorable.</em>” Weiss said, remembering distantly how Maria had knocked her particular brand of ‘sense’ into their group when she’d run into them on the way to Argus.<br/><br/>“It’s still hard to believe we’ve found out who the Grimm Reaper was, especially after all this time. She was a legend, back in the day.” Qrow chuckled with faint disbelief. It was the first time Weiss had seen more than a hint of a smile cross the man’s face.<br/><br/>“I’m convinced that she will be a valuable ally to have in the years to come. I find that knowledge is often as powerful as any weapon, and Miss Calavera seems to have plenty. But…” Ozpin trailed off, “I am afraid that we must also act to face this new crisis that threatens the Kingdoms.”<br/><br/>“As you’re all aware, I'm afraid the violence that followed the attack at Beacon has only escalated in recent days. Though the White Fang are in disarray, that has done nothing to prevent the senseless loss of life.”<br/><br/>“Made it trickier to deal with, too.” Qrow said. “At least with how Schnee remembered it, the White Fang was one organisation with one leader. Now, it’s just a mess. Not sure there’s much we can do behind the scenes other than arrest each group of troublemakers, and there’s a whole Kingdom’s worth of Huntsmen doing that, already.”<br/><br/>Ozpin sighed. “I still have some hopes that the situation might be resolved without violence. And…”<br/><br/>Ozpin looked to Weiss. “I may have an idea. It involves Miss Belladonna.”<br/><br/>“What’re you thinking of, Oz?” Qrow asked.<br/><br/>“I was a great admirer of her father’s work in the days when he led the White Fang.” Ozpin explained. “It was a great shame to see the organisation take such a dark turn after showing such promise.”<br/><br/>“I’m certain that the Chieftain of Menagerie holds no ill will towards Beacon Academy, but I can’t help but feel he might appreciate a first hand account of the situation with the White Fang from a former member who is familiar to him, than he would a request for help from a human headmaster. According to your account, he was most useful in constructing a new, peaceful organisation. Perhaps seeing what has become of his former organisation at an earlier date might give the world a more positive voice for the Faunus again.”<br/><br/>“Well, you can ask Blake and see what she wants.” Weiss said. She understood the idea - approved of it, even. It had been great to see Blake again in Mistral last time, hear what they’d achieved.<br/><br/>But it had to be Blake’s choice. And if she said yes…<br/><br/>Weiss knew it could be dangerous. For her and her family if they got involved in the White Fang’s business.<br/><br/>“I assure you, I have no intention of compelling Miss Belladonna, and certainly not to endanger herself.” Ozpin promised.<br/><br/>Weiss nodded, but the answer didn’t make her feel much better.<br/><br/>Blake had come to Patch to hide first, before agreeing to try and help. Getting anything to Menagerie from her meant there could be a target on her back again.<br/><br/>Weiss knew Blake, even if this Blake didn’t know her all that well. She knew she’d try and get herself involved if Ozpin made a good case for it, and Ozpin had spent millennia learning how best to call people to action.<br/><br/>She just didn’t want Blake to get herself killed.<br/><br/>---<br/><br/>Qrow found the Faunus kid outside a little while later, while Oz kept talking to Weiss about things. They’d covered most of the important stuff, the plan for things going ahead, and Qrow had felt he probably should go check on the other kid - make sure she wasn’t doing anything stupid. Part of the plan was looking after the two of them, after all.<br/><br/>Didn’t take long to find her - Blake wasn’t trying to hide. Instead, she sat on the ground out in the open, checking over her weapon, half of which sat in pieces, disassembled on a piece of cloth as she cleaned it.<br/><br/>There was no way she hadn’t heard him coming out, but he didn’t start speaking until he’d walked around to face her anyway.<br/><br/>“Y’know, Oz wouldn’t mind having you in the room, seeing as Weiss filled you in.” Qrow began. Blake didn’t look up from her weapon, but she nodded faintly in recognition.<br/><br/>Watching the kid work, he could tell she knew her weapon inside and out as she delicately reconstructed the weird-gun-blade-ribbon thing. She fumbled on a few of the more delicate parts once or twice, but she wasn’t misplacing anything.<br/><br/>“I can hear just fine from out here.” Blake said, “Besides, I’m not stupid enough to think my opinion counts for much, right now.”<br/><br/>“Well, Oz is probably gonna want to speak with you at some point. With this whole White Fang mess, someone with your, uh, <em>experience</em>, might come in handy.”<br/><br/>He wasn’t going to make Oz’s pitch for him - the old man was a better salesman than he’d ever be. Still, he did want to check on the kid - felt like the responsible thing to do.<br/><br/>Blake looked up at him, eyes narrowed for a second, before she went back to her work.<br/><br/>“...I’m willing to help, if I like the sound of what he’s got to say.”<br/><br/>“Still not all on board with us, then?” Qrow asked as he sat down in the snow, leaning against a half-buried log on the ground.<br/><br/>Blake seemed to choose her words carefully. “I trust Weiss. Talking to her, I think she’s being honest.”<br/><br/>She looked back over to Qrow. “That doesn’t mean I’m sure about any of you, yet.”<br/><br/>“That’s fair.” Qrow accepted with a nod. “The whole thing looks pretty shady from the outside, I’ll admit. But we’re just trying our best to protect people.”<br/><br/>“All people?” Blake asked, her voice quiet as she stared off into the distance. Her meaning was obvious.<br/><br/>Qrow didn’t say anything at first, taking a swig of drink as he got the gist of what Blake was getting at.<br/><br/>“You’ve got something you want to get off your chest.” He gestured with his flask. “Go on, then.”<br/><br/>Blake was quiet for a moment; the only sound to be heard was the faint <em>click</em> of parts being pushed together in the girl’s weapon before she spoke.<br/><br/>“The Faunus have been trying to enjoy the same rights as humans for as long as we've had to live in your Kingdoms. Every time we’ve made even a little bit of progress, the humans just find another way to lock us out. And now, there are Faunus out there, killing humans, killing each other, because they don’t see any other way.”<br/><br/>“That doesn’t make them right.” Blake hurriedly emphasised. “They’re not. I saw that at Beacon. The White Fang are just going to get themselves killed. They’re not going to help anyone.”<br/><br/>“Where’re you going with this?” Qrow asked.<br/><br/>“Weiss told me about you, about your group - you’ve got so many powerful allies all across the world, headmasters, spies, generals….”<br/><br/>Blake looked Qrow in the eye.<br/><br/>“Couldn’t you have helped us? Before things got this bad?” She asked. Her voice sounded tired.<br/><br/>There was something about it that made her look so small in that moment - it reminded Qrow that as much as she might have come from a rough crowd, she was still just a fourteen year old kid.<br/><br/>Hell, Qrow realised, she was about Yang’s age...<br/><br/>The Schnee was the same, for all that she had the memories of another life crammed in her head. They’d both been through some rough business, but they were still just teenagers.<br/><br/>They both deserved better than this. They both deserved better than some cursed old bastard being the only one looking out for them. He might have been able to teach them a few things to help them stay alive, but they weren’t going to get any <em>less </em>fucked up with only him around.<br/><br/>But right now, there wasn’t anyone else, and he wasn’t really good at any of this.<br/><br/>Maybe once things had cooled down a little more… <em>if</em> things cooled down, Oz could sort something else out. He'd need to get back in the field at some point anyway. There was always another fire that needed putting out, and lately that was more true than usual.<br/><br/>Qrow sighed, cradling his brow as he looked back over at the kid.<br/><br/>“We’re in a lot of high places… but we can only do so much. We’ve got limits, not to mention other things to deal with most of the time.” Qrow explained, knowing already how unsatisfying the words sounded, even to him.<br/><br/>Qrow had long since resigned himself to the fact that as much good as he was getting done, there always would be an element of futility to the job. There was always more to do, and half the time it felt like things never changed.<br/><br/>Maybe one day, things’d be better. Maybe Salem would be beaten, <em>really </em>beaten, maybe people would stop being such idiots just because some people had an extra set of ears or a tail. But right now that didn’t mean much to people living today.<br/><br/>“For what it’s worth, Oz has tried a hell of a lot of things to ease tensions. The Huntsman Academies have always tried to offer equal opportunities.”<br/><br/>“It still doesn’t feel like enough.” The girl said quietly, "It <em>isn't</em> enough." <br/><br/>Qrow didn’t have much to say to that.<br/><br/>On paper, they’d built a perfect little world that treated everyone as fairly as could be. But Qrow had seen enough to know that for a hell of a lot of people, it was still an illusion.<br/><br/>“No. Guess it isn't.” He muttered with a shrug. “There's always just enough shitheads in the wrong places trying to push change back. But trying to do some good is better than nothing.”<br/><br/>Blake nodded, but she didn’t say anything, eyes still fixed to the ground. She was shivering faintly in the cold, but she didn’t make any effort to move.<br/><br/>Looking over at the kid, Qrow wanted to come up with some halfway decent words - something inspiring. But that hadn’t ever been his job. Those sort of uplifting things had never come easy to a sour old crow like him.<br/><br/>Instead, he just sighed, and sat back with his drink.<br/><br/>For a while, the two of them just sat in the quiet of the clearing. Neither of them were talkers, but he knew one of them would try to break the silence sooner or later, and Qrow was hoping she’d do it before he could.<br/><br/>“I have a <em>lot</em> of doubts. I don't think we're ever going to agree on some things, but... maybe you are trying, at least.” Blake said suddenly, still looking down at the now fully-reassembled frame of her weapon.<br/><br/>“I guess I’ll have to wait and see,” she said, standing up and holstering her weapons, "Hopefully Weiss is right about you guys." <br/><br/>“...Can’t ask for more than that.” Qrow nodded.<br/><br/>Then the kid walked off, probably to find a perch with one less sad old man blocking the view.<br/><br/>Still, Qrow thought, at least he hadn’t done <em>everything</em> wrong. That was good. Schnee would probably try to kill him if he drove her sort-of-friend off.<br/><br/>---<br/><br/><b>Atlas Academy, Kingdom of Atlas</b><br/><br/>“Clover. Glad you could make it on such short notice.” General Ironwood greeted the Specialist cheerfully as he saw him enter his office.<br/><br/>In Clover’s experience, General Ironwood wasn’t one for formality between friends. The pair had both served together on more than a few occasions during Ironwood’s rising career as an officer, and their branch of the Atlesian Military had always been the least disposed towards military formality, especially between fellow Specialists. Even since Ironwood had become leader of the Atlesian Military and Headmaster of Atlas Academy, some habits didn’t go away.<br/><br/>“How’s your team?” The General asked.<br/><br/>The windows to Ironwood’s sizeable office at the summit of Atlas Academy’s central tower were all shuttered, leaving the room in darkness, except for the weak blue light filtering from the hologram currently floating above the projector in the centre of the office.<br/><br/>“Working well. We’re between missions right now, but Hare’s fitting in well. Her skill-set’s been a solid addition to the Ace-Ops.”<br/><br/>It wasn’t arrogance that made Clover confidently assured that his team was one of the best in the world. It was simply a matter of stating facts. His team had been picked from the best of the best to work well together to complete their missions, and they’d achieved that, time and time again. There was no denying their effectiveness.<br/><br/>“That’s excellent to hear.” Ironwood smiled warmly at Clover’s assessment, glancing back to the holographic display as he spoke. “Her record at Atlas was a little rough around the edges, but I knew a team leader of your calibre would be able get her best out of her.”<br/><br/>Ironwood gestured to the hologram that was presently the focus of his attention.<br/><br/>Clover was by no means an engineer, but he’d heard enough rumours and read enough on the latest technological developments to recognise a Paladin when he saw one. The mechanised battlesuit’s squat, blocky form was unmistakable, along with the specifications of its advanced sensor package and substantial arsenal.<br/><br/>There had been all sorts of fanfare about the idea a few years back - a new means of supporting the infantry against powerful Grimm and even Huntsmen. But apparently a lead scientist on the project had died in an accident during testing and things had slowed down as the Council found better things to throw money at. Now, expectations were a little more realistic for the delivery date. They were supposed to be ready for field use in a few more years.<br/><br/>“Magnificent, isn’t it? The first prototypes have already been built. We should have one ready for field tests in just a few more weeks.” Ironwood explained.<br/><br/>Clover quirked an eyebrow at the information. “I’d heard that the Paladin Project-”<br/><br/>“That we weren’t likely to see them in the field for years? That’s still probably true. The Council recognises the job the military does for all of us, but in times of… ‘peace’, like these, even we have to economise. Now though, there’s been a little extra set aside to get the prototypes ready sooner.”<br/><br/>“What’s changed?”<br/><br/>The faint smile on Ironwood’s face grew brittle.<br/><br/>“New threats have been identified.” The General elaborated with a grimace. “First, the White Fang decided to try to blow each other to bits without a care for collateral damage. With that came panic, and with the panic…”<br/><br/><em>Grimm.</em><br/><br/>With a tap on his scroll, the hologram shifted to a map of Remnant. Clover quickly recognised what it represented - new major Grimm sightings flared up on the map in bright red clusters.<br/><br/>“Travel’s already getting more difficult, and peripheral settlements are already reporting an increase in Grimm activity.”<br/><br/>Clover nodded at the sight before him. These days when the newsreaders weren’t going on about the latest riots in MIstral or Vale (or ‘minor incidents’ in Atlas, because riots certainly could never take place in Atlas), they were discussing the latest Grimm sightings.<br/><br/>Clover found his eye drawn to one of the more recent incidents shown on the map, on Argus’ land boundary.<br/><br/>He hadn’t heard exactly what had happened down there, but apparently the locals hadn’t taken fondly to Mistral handing over jurisdiction to Atlesian military police, not helped by the local commander being somewhat overeager to make use of the resources at her disposal. Still, the Atlas forces at the city’s wall had held without much difficulty and no Grimm had actually entered the city.<br/><br/>It didn’t change that it was the largest Grimm attack on Argus in a decade, going by the numbers Clover saw overlayed on the map.<br/><br/>“Even if we can’t stretch the budget for any major expansions, deploying the Paladins as soon as possible will certainly come in handy. And they’re not all that’s being moved up on the timeline.” Ironwood told him, before reaching down to his scroll again and turning off the map.<br/><br/>The shutters to the office didn’t open, however, and the room was bathed in cool light from the room’s own lighting systems as the locks to the office’s front door <em>clicked</em> audibly.<br/><br/>Clover glanced about the office as the General made his way back to his desk. The precautions were as clear a signal as any that what Ironwood wanted to say was not meant to leave this room.<br/><br/>“Of course, I didn’t call you up here to discuss R&amp;D, Clover.” Ironwood spoke with a faint, tired sigh as he sank into the frame of his desk’s chair.<br/><br/>In the brighter light, Clover at last made out the dark bags that hung under the General’s eyes, as well as the uncharacteristic five o’clock shadow that masked his superior’s usually clean-shaven face. There was a stack of empty coffee cups that littered the General’s desk, alongside a large pile of datapads and paperwork.<br/><br/>Ironwood had clearly had a rough few days, to put it lightly. He looked absolutely exhausted.<br/><br/>Behind the man, Clover’s eyes were drawn to a few holograms projected near Ironwood’s desk, something the General had clearly been looking over before Clover had arrived that the General didn’t see fit to conceal. They were aerial reconnaissance - images of the overgrown, crumbling ruins of a city Clover didn’t immediately recognise.<br/><br/>“The reason you’re here is because there are details I want to divulge that aren’t… strictly official.” The General explained.<br/><br/>“Is this something to do with this new threat you mentioned, sir?”<br/><br/>With a sigh, Ironwood sat up behind the desk, his posture tense. He took a moment to collect himself before he finally spoke again.<br/><br/>“I remember one of the things that stuck out to me in the Academy, learning our military history, is that even at the height of the Great War, the two warring factions would abandon a battle in an instant should a sufficient number of Grimm threaten both sides. The fighting wouldn’t resume until the very last Grimm had been driven off.”<br/><br/>The General spoke carefully, deliberately, metal fingers tapping against the wooden surface of his desk as he elaborated. His words were precise, clearly well-rehearsed. It was clear that he had a point, and he’d thought a lot about how to get it across.<br/><br/>“They did so because, no matter their competing interests and fundamentally contradictory ideologies, they recognised that the Grimm were the greater threat, and that they could trust even their enemies to understand that their shared humanity came first.<br/><br/>“That’s what we’ve been able to count on against almost any threat, human or Faunus, before or after the Great War: that there were lines that shouldn’t be crossed, that no one wanted to rule over nothing but ashes. They might want to change what’s going on behind our walls, but no one disagreed that the walls had to remain standing.”<br/><br/>Ironwood paused for breath, cradling his forehead before looking back over at the Specialist.<br/><br/>“But what if the enemy simply doesn’t care?” Ironwood asked. “What if we can no longer count on our enemies seeing the shared benefit of existing within the structures of civilisation and society? What if the enemy has no investment at all in anyone but themselves, and is willing to violate all of those unwritten concepts of fairness to achieve their aims, even to the point of using the Grimm against us?”<br/><br/>“An enemy that doesn’t restrain themselves is all the more dangerous, in my experience.” Clover said, thinking of the difference between fighting people and fighting Grimm. People restrained themselves - the only restraint a Grimm showed was the patience of an ambush predator. In time, if they could, there wasn’t anything they wouldn’t destroy.<br/><br/>"And what do you think of the possibility? Of an enemy willing to go so far as to use the Grimm to win?"<br/><br/>“That would be a chilling hypothetical, sir.” Clover mused. “I’d also say that an enemy faction with that kind of ideology behind it could never gain enough followers to actually ever pose a major threat.”<br/><br/>Ironwood said nothing, nodding as he leaned back into his chair, clearly trying to choose his next words carefully.<br/><br/>Clover was an optimist. Even the White Fang, misguided as they were, weren’t insane enough to want to destroy civilisation itself. The Grimm were the ultimate enemy. Only a madman would actually consider trying to use them as an element of military strategy.<br/><br/>Still, the fact that the General <em>hadn’t</em> agreed with his assessment left a chill in Clover’s spine. He trusted James, and if he wasn’t immediately dismissing the idea as pure theory, as a dangerous but faint possibility…<br/><br/>“Recently, someone told me something that showed me what division could cost us, and the importance of openness and trust, especially between allies.” Ironwood remarked, breaking the silence.<br/><br/>“The Ace-Ops are a team I know Atlas can count on to get the job done, regardless of whatever difficulties emerge. Your record over the last few years speaks for itself.”<br/><br/>“That’s why I’m trusting you with the information that this threat is all too real. A dangerous group of criminals are out there, waiting in the dark. It’d almost be understating their intentions to call them terrorists. Terror is certainly a tool they can use to great effect. But they seek nothing less than the destruction of everything we know and value.”<br/><br/>“Is this classified, sir?” Clover asked.<br/><br/>“You might say that. To avoid panic; to avoid chaos, it was decided some time ago that only a select few would ever be informed about these matters.” Ironwood explained, in a way that left Clover with more questions.<br/><br/>“Circumstances change, however, and we find ourselves needing a few more people in the loop to get the job done. I’ve got a number of discreet missions that need to be accomplished, and for that I need Specialists I can trust. I’d like you to be one of them.”<br/><br/>“What do you need from me, sir?”<br/><br/>The General stood, turning his back on the Specialist. He was staring off, seeing something through the closed shutters as he spoke. Beyond the reinforced steel of the office structure lay perhaps the finest view in Remnant, looking down on everything they had to protect. Not just Atlas, but civilisation itself at its best.<br/><br/>“When even the basic assumptions about our humanity breaks down, we can’t keep playing by the same rules as before. There are fights that need to be kept in the shadows. There will need to be missions carried out that might in better times be considered unsavoury or illegal. But when the very future of our existence is in question, they will be necessary.”<br/><br/>Clover could tell Ironwood was justifying himself, building up to a question. As he’d said earlier, none of this was strictly official, but he was asking for Clover’s trust, all the same.<br/><br/>Ironwood turned, his eyes meeting Clover’s. “Are you willing to be a part of that, Specialist?”<br/><br/>It wasn’t a difficult thing for the man to ask of him. Clover had known and worked with the man long enough to trust him with his life. There was no doubt in his mind that James Ironwood would ever cease to be one of Atlas’ finest protectors.<br/><br/>There was only one answer Clover could give.<br/><br/>“I’m willing to do whatever’s necessary, sir.”<br/><br/>An invisible weight seemed to leave Ironwood’s posture. “Glad to hear it.”<br/><br/>“Where do we begin then, sir?”<br/><br/>Strangely enough, the General laughed. It was an odd noise coming from Ironwood.<br/><br/>“There’s a lot to cover, but I suppose the tried and true methods are the best ones.” The other man mused to himself, before looking back at Clover, a strangely almost nostalgic look in his eyes.<br/><br/>“Know any fairy tales?”<br/><br/>---<br/><br/><b>Patch, Kingdom of Vale</b><br/><br/>Later that evening, Weiss found herself once again outside of Qrow’s safehouse, watching the sun go down, bathing the foothills of Patch in warm, amber light.<br/><br/>Ozpin had left a little while after his talk had concluded with her and Qrow. As Beacon’s Headmaster and the leader of the fight against Salem, he was right to think he’d be more than busy in the days ahead.<br/><br/>Weiss had offered what she knew, but she didn’t feel her memories wouldn’t be much help with the White Fang. She only knew what the old Blake had told her second-hand, and that wasn’t going to help much now that things were already so different.<br/><br/>Still, Ozpin had said he had a few ideas he was willing to try to help resolve the crisis. Hopefully they’d work. Hopefully they wouldn’t get good people hurt.<br/><br/>Overall, there were still plenty of things to worry about, but now they finally had something they could really call a victory.<br/><br/>Mistral was safe, and with that, the rest of the Kingdoms were too; at least for now. They knew who Salem’s servants were, and they knew what she wanted. That had to count for something.<br/><br/>Maybe this would finally be the time they stopped Salem, somehow.<br/><br/>The memory of Ruby at Atlas, lying on the floor weeping, broke into her thoughts, burning like a hot knife, but Weiss forced herself to ignore it. Salem had said what she’d said to inflict damage - to hurt and to divide.<br/><br/>It hurt to remember that last night. It hurt to remember the pain that she’d felt, the sight that she’d been left before... all of this.<br/><br/>She remembered that night easiest of all - remembered how there had been <em>teeth</em> in the clouds.<br/><br/>But it didn’t change anything. Things had to be different, this time. Things already were different.<br/><br/>Things felt different.<br/><br/>She knew they weren’t even close to being finished. But it was a beginning; the start of something new.<br/><br/>And for now, Weiss felt she could afford enjoying some peace and quiet.<br/><br/>There was a rock that lay against an old, weathered tree that was almost comfortable to sit on. Weiss let herself rest there a moment, before she headed back in.<br/><br/>She relished the sight before her - Patch was beautiful most days, but this was perhaps the best view of all.<br/><br/>And it was <em>quiet.</em> Just for once, there were no more voices; no more fears.<br/><br/>For once, she really felt fine.<br/><br/>Sitting back and enjoying the gentle warmth of the sun on her face, Weiss felt that maybe she could finally start moving forwards.</p><p> </p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0017"><h2>17. 3.6 - Melt, Part Six</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p><b>Signal Academy, Patch</b><br/><br/>“Anyway, so suppressors don’t <em>really</em> make guns all that much quieter, and since Grimm don’t need to hear you to find you, it’s really not worth the trade-off, unless you want to be an assassin or something.” Ruby concluded her mini-lecture on firearm attachments with a nervous giggle, trying her best to calmly describe her latest discoveries to Yang.<br/><br/>Ruby’s older sister smiled as she walked beside her down through the hallways of Signal Academy. Signal Academy’s buildings were old and huge, by Patch’s standards, and it was easy to get lost, especially with hundreds of students all bustling in different directions, unless you figured out the layout. That was definitely <em>not</em> true in Ruby’s case, and that was where Yang came in.<br/><br/>It was still lunch break, but it was getting around to that time that it was probably a good idea to start drifting in the direction of the next class. Fortunately, Ruby and Yang’s classes were pretty close to each other, which meant the older girl could keep her little sister company for a little while longer.<br/><br/>“What’re you doing looking up weapon components, anyway?” Yang asked curiously. This conversation had started out with Yang asking Ruby about how her civics class work was going. Yang had a pretty strong guess about how Ruby had got to this point, however.<br/><br/>Yang’s sister was a nervous shadow always close to her side. Today, she was buried in one of her favourite red hoodies, hands stuffed into the pockets as she kept close to her sister. Beneath the hood, a pair of brilliant silver eyes glanced up at Yang.<br/><br/>“Oh, I was just looking around at articles on the CCTnet for some homework.... I might’ve gotten a little distracted.” Ruby explained sheepishly.<br/><br/>Ruby was good at schoolwork if she put her mind to it, but she did tend to get sidetracked if she had a sudden idea about something come to her.<br/><br/>“Still haven’t decided what you want in your scythe?” Yang asked.<br/><br/>Even if Uncle Qrow had kinda gone radio silent on them for the last few weeks, Ruby was nowhere near giving up on her hopes to use a scythe like her uncle’s one day. There had been plenty of weapons she’d shown real potential with in combat class, but she loved the idea of using a scythe more than anything else.<br/><br/>“Yeah, well… not really.” Ruby admitted, nervously fiddling with her hands. “I just <em>really</em> want to make the right choice…”<br/><br/>Yang placed a gentle hand on her sister’s shoulder, looking her in the eyes with a smile.<br/><br/>“<em>Ruby</em>. You’ve still got two years to think about what your weapon’s gonna be, and you’re already planning it. Whatever it is, it’s gonna be great.” Yang assured her, and she meant it. Her little sis loved weapons, and she was learning more about them every day. There was no way that passion wasn’t going to make something awesome when it was her turn to do it.<br/><br/>Yang felt the weight at the bottom of her own backpack from the gauntlets she carried around her everywhere. Strictly speaking, she wasn’t supposed to use them outside of class, but it felt good to have them around. If she could make something as beautiful as her own Ember Celica, whatever Ruby made would be a work of art in comparison.<br/><br/>“Thanks, sis. I’m sure I’ll figure it out eventually.” Ruby mumbled with a faint smile.<br/><br/>“‘Course you will! You’re Ruby Rose, my amazing future Huntress of a sister!” Yang grinned, reaching over to give her a Xiao Long-grade hug.<br/><br/>“<em>Yang!” </em>Ruby groaned from within Yang’s grip as her sister picked her up in her arms. Relenting with a grin, Yang soon let go, letting her sister drop back to the ground.<br/><br/>“Sorry for going on about it….” Ruby muttered with a sorry look. “I just get excited, y’know?”<br/><br/>“Rubes, I <em>love</em> hearing you get excited about stuff.” Yang promised her. “It means something must be going right, yeah?”<br/><br/>Yang knew plenty about weapons and how they worked - you had to if you wanted to design your own, but it was still fun to hear Ruby talk about technical details with such excitement in her voice. Knowing Ruby had a good day was more than enough to make Yang's. It meant she'd done her job right.<br/><br/>Ever since her sister had started going to Signal, Yang and Ruby had been pretty much inseparable whenever class didn’t get in the way.<br/><br/>Ruby didn’t really deal well with strangers, and on the first day of combat school, Signal had been packed with tons of them. She’d been pretty overwhelmed by just about everything that day, so from then on she’d always hung around Yang. It helped her, getting through the day without worrying about people things.<br/><br/>Ruby wasn’t the best at those, not for lack of trying - she liked people if she got a chance to warm up to them, and she had made a few <em>sorta </em>friends, but some people just didn’t <em>get</em> Yang’s sister, and that made things difficult.<br/><br/>Not that Ruby had to worry about bullies, as far as Yang could tell, and she was always watching when she could. After the first broken nose she’d handed out on Ruby’s first week, people had given her sister and just about anyone within Yang’s visual range a wide berth.<br/><br/>That had been one week’s worth of detention she definitely didn’t regret. Dad hadn’t thought so, either, even if he had told her to maybe try being a <em>little</em> more diplomatic in the future. Their family didn’t care for bullies.<br/><br/>Maybe things could have been better. Yang hoped one day Ruby would find some great friends. But Yang understood that Ruby was just fine with this - just the two of them. And if it was good enough for Ruby, that was enough for Yang.<br/><br/>“Well, if it isn’t my two favourite troublemakers.” A familiar voice called out from behind, drawing the eager attention of both girls in an instant.<br/><br/>“Uncle Qrow?” Yang’s eyes widened in surprise at the sight of the dark-haired Huntsman, standing in the hallway.<br/><br/>“<em>Uncle Qrow!” </em>Ruby called out as she hopped in a short burst of rose petals towards the figure of their uncle, letting her loosely-held backpack fall to the floor with a faint <em>thud</em>. In an instant, she was latched firmly onto his shoulder, legs kicking in the air as she gave the man’s left arm a tight hug, without a care for the dozens watching them in the hallway.<br/><br/>“Glad to see you’re back at work, <em>Mr Branwen</em>.” Yang said with a grin.<br/><br/>Qrow made the sort of face Yang imagined he’d make if he’d been stabbed, looking to Yang with a pleading look. “<em>Please.</em> Never call me that again.”<br/><br/>At last, Ruby lost her grip on her uncle, falling to the floor in a pile of rose petals. Getting up with a hand from Yang, she looked cheerfully back at Qrow.<br/><br/>“How long have you been back?” Ruby asked eagerly.<br/><br/>“Just got back in today.” Qrow explained. “I had other things to do, but that’s... calmed down now.”<br/><br/>“Bet the rest of the staff just <em>love</em> you right now.” Yang said. When Qrow had left the first time, right before Weiss Schnee had shown up at their house, the Signal teachers had been scrambling to fill the gap in teaching the classes the Huntsman had left. To be honest, Yang was a little surprised they’d let him keep his job.<br/><br/>“Yeah. I don’t think you gave them a lot of warning when you left.” Ruby agreed with a snort.<br/><br/>Qrow chuckled, reaching down to tussle Ruby’s hair, somehow making it even messier than usual in the process. He knew better than to try that with Yang.<br/><br/>“Sure, they were a little pissed off. But I think I managed to appeal to their sense of decency and fairness with a heartfelt explanation of my absence. Plus a few bottles of some of the good stuff I picked up on a job a while back helped... grease the diplomatic wheels.”<br/><br/>“Bit of old fashioned bribery, huh?” Yang mused. “Don’t think they teach us that part in our survival classes. Is that a Beacon thing?”<br/><br/>Qrow shook his head with a chuckle. “I’m afraid the really fun parts are the bits you learn outside of the classroom.”<br/><br/>“Uh… Uncle Qrow…” Ruby asked nervously, “Since you’re back in Patch… Are you gonna to keep teaching at Signal?”<br/><br/>“Don’t see any reason why not. At least for a while.”<br/><br/>“Well… I know you’re really super busy especially with your other Huntsman stuff but… I was just wondering if...” Ruby dithered, her voice going quiet.<br/><br/>“<em>Rubes</em>.” Yang gently encouraged her sister, “Uncle Qrow’s not gonna mind you asking again.”<br/><br/>“You still want me to teach you how to use one of these?” Qrow asked Ruby, gesturing to the blade holstered at his belt.<br/><br/>Ruby nodded vigorously, eyes gleaming as she looked up at her uncle.<br/><br/>“Well, it all depends.” Qrow mused with a smirk. “You been keeping up with everything else I asked you to do last time?”<br/><br/>“Yes, sir!” Ruby chirped. “I’ve been doing all of my homework - <em>aaaand </em>I didn’t train on my own or anything because that’s what you said not to do.”<br/><br/>“Right, and that’s because...?” Qrow prodded.<br/><br/>“‘<em>Scythes are a dangerous weapon that demand respect from the user in order to avoid anyone coming to unnecessary harm</em>?’” Ruby quoted her Uncle’s last lecture on the topic precisely.<br/><br/>“Exactly. Training alone with a new weapon means you can develop bad habits, and that’s dangerous enough with most weapons. Scythes are a whole other thing. I should know - picked up a few scratches from making stupid mistakes when I was your age. Hopefully, we’ll be able to avoid that with you. I don’t want to have to deal with your Dad hunting me down.”<br/><br/>Having known Qrow for years before coming to Signal, it was still a little weird hearing him slip into the role of a teacher. It almost made him sound a little respectable.<br/><br/>“You mean…?” Ruby asked, eyes shining hopefully in a way that no one could say wasn’t adorable. Yang smirked. There wasn’t much anyone could do to say no to <em>that</em> look from her little sister.<br/><br/>Qrow nodded with a smile. “We can start with it pretty soon. I’ll show you the ropes outside of school hours, and then we’ll try and get you ready to start training with it in class.”<br/><br/>Quickly, Ruby jumped to hug her Uncle again, giggling with nervous joy. “Thank you so much, Uncle Qrow! I promise I won’t let you down!”<br/><br/>“This isn’t going to be easy kid,” Qrow said, patting the girl on the head, “but if you work at it, it’ll more than pay off.”<br/><br/>“I will. I promise.” Ruby pledged earnestly.<br/><br/>That was when the walls started screaming - the bells signifying the start of the next period had started ringing throughout the Academy. As one, the school’s buildings started echoing with the sound of feet rapidly moving in one direction or another.<br/><br/>In the time it took everyone in the hallway to stop wincing from the sudden, shrill noise, there was another cloud of petals as Ruby leapt off of Qrow, rushing to pick up her backpack.<br/><br/>“Sorry, Uncle, we’ve gotta go! Class is still kinda far!” Ruby explained with a sheepish look, before turning back to Yang.<br/><br/>“I just want to talk to Uncle Qrow for a sec, Ruby.” Yang said. “You can get going.”<br/><br/>“Okay. See ya later, sis! Bye Uncle Qrow!”<br/><br/>“Bye, Rubes.”<br/><br/>“Give ‘em hell, kiddo.”<br/><br/>The pair of them watched Ruby run away through the hallways - in the right direction, Yang happily noted, before looking back to each other.<br/><br/>“Something you wanna say, firecracker?” Qrow asked.<br/><br/>Yang smiled weakly, playing with a strand of her golden hair in her hands as she spoke. “I’m just… glad you’re keeping your promises.”<br/><br/>“Hey, I <em>always</em> keep my promises.” Qrow weakly protested. “The ones I make when I’m sober, anyway.”<br/><br/>Yang stared at him silently. Qrow sighed.<br/><br/>“But I get it. I did drop off the map a little, didn’t I?”<br/><br/>“We were worried about you.” Yang said. “Especially after you went off with <em>you know who,</em> and then what they were saying about Beacon on the news.”<br/><br/>Officially, the rumour that Weiss Schnee had somehow been caught up in the attack on Beacon - that she’d been the reason for it - was just that. But then again, officially, Weiss Schnee still hadn’t been seen since she’d escaped from Atlas.<br/><br/>“I guess I could’ve kept you guys in the loop a little more. Before I came back to work here, I wasn’t exactly used to needing to give anyone advanced warning that I’d need to leave in a rush.” Qrow glanced in the direction Ruby had gone, “Was she alright? Were you alright?”<br/><br/>“Ruby’s Ruby. She wants to be a Huntress more than anything, so... she gets it. She’d never blame you for leaving if you had to. Even if you did promise to teach her how to use a scythe.” Yang spoke neutrally with a shrug.<br/><br/>“And you?”<br/><br/>Yang glanced away for a moment, taking a breath before she spoke. She loved Qrow - he was family; the kind she knew she could count on and talk to about things that she couldn’t with Dad - but she had understood a long time ago that everyone left eventually, even if they didn’t mean to, even if it wasn’t forever.<br/><br/>That was fine, though. She didn’t mind. That was just what people did. Everyone except her and Ruby. Yang knew she’d always have her sister’s back.<br/><br/>“...You know me. I’m always fine.” Yang said with a faint smile. “I’m glad you’re back. Ruby couldn’t ask for a better teacher with that thing, and it’s always fun having you around.”<br/><br/>Qrow nodded sagely. “I am pretty amazing, aren’t I?”<br/><br/>Yang rolled her eyes, sharing a faint chuckle with her uncle.<br/><br/>Yang did have one more question, though. “Was she alright, in the end?” She asked hesitantly.<br/><br/>“Who?”<br/><br/>“Y’know… <em>her?” </em>Yang hinted.<br/><br/>“Oh.” Qrow seemed to understand, scratching at his hair for a moment as he considered his answer.<br/><br/>Qrow glanced about the empty hallway, before speaking to her in a whisper.<br/><br/>“Way above your paygrade, kid. For your own good, don’t think too much about it. Trust me.” He said apologetically.<br/><br/>“...Okay.” Yang conceded quietly with a nod, knowing that forgetting any of it was the last thing on her mind.<br/><br/>She looked at one of the clocks mounted on the walls. The Academy bells had gone silent about a minute before, so it was probably about time that she made her way to class, anyway.<br/><br/>“I’ve gotta get going, so-” Yang gestured to the doors Ruby had gone through.<br/><br/>“Go ahead, kid.” Qrow nodded. “See you around.”<br/><br/>Yang nodded, turning away and leaving her uncle behind as she rushed to class. Class was the last thing on her mind as she moved, though.<br/><br/>Before, Qrow being a Huntsman was just another part of his cool uncle backstory. But now, Yang couldn’t help but wonder in the back of her head about what else her Uncle did in the times when he went away.<br/><br/>Everything to do with Weiss sounded like something a little more unusual than the normal sort of Huntsman work they were taught to expect at Signal, especially considering what the strange girl had told her.<br/><br/>She wasn’t surprised to not get an answer. Yang was used to having more than a few questions she knew she’d never get an answer to. Not any time soon, anyway. She’d just live with this one like she did the rest of them. She could do that, for now.<br/><br/>Still, she was happy to see Qrow was alright. She was happy to see he’d be sticking around, or at least trying to. With him teaching her, Yang knew there’d be no stopping Ruby achieving whatever she dreamed of doing.<br/><br/>Yang had a lot of questions, but they could wait. For now, she was just glad that everything felt alright.<br/><br/>She hoped it’d last.<br/><br/>---<br/><br/><b>??????</b><br/><br/>Moonlight mingled with the ever-present glow that filled the land around the fortress, bathing the chamber in a strange crimson light. The only warmth in the room came from the few candles lit around the vast meeting table at the centre, hewn from the same strange dark Dust that littered the land.<br/><br/>Not that warmth was much of a concern to those in the room. The land of darkness wasn’t particularly hot or cold, but it was, as ever, intrinsically discomforting for any to remain in for long, even to those whose safety was assured. That didn’t change, whatever the season or time of day.<br/><br/>“It’s as I suspected, then. Leonardo is no longer Headmaster at Mistral.”<br/><br/>Watts didn’t flinch when Salem spoke. He’d long since come to terms with the fact that his present employer could end him in any number of ways, but he knew full well that he was still far too useful to her needs to ever be at any real risk. Besides, he certainly couldn’t be blamed for this particular situation.<br/><br/>“Yes, ma’am. The news reports in Mistral are saying that he’s entered an early retirement. A ruse, no doubt. On a leash as short as the one we were holding him on, he certainly had to know that retirement was <em>not</em> an option for him.” Watts explained.<br/><br/>He had been unable to find much beyond the official reports - the kind of secrets that their enemies so often dealt in were not put to paper, let alone stored digitally.<br/><br/>Seated at a throne made from the glowing, ancient Dust that flourished in the land of darkness, there was no questioning Salem’s mastery in the room. Appearing like a Grimm in human form and poised like a Queen, the primordial creature radiated power. Watts was not so gullible as Salem’s pet assassin, but to say she looked every bit the part of a god was hardly an undeserved remark.<br/><br/>Watts sat as comfortably as one could in the hard bone-like material of his chair as he made his report. As irritating as the setback was, Watts felt no particular concern. None of this was his fault, after all, and as far as he was concerned, that meant he had lost nothing.<br/><br/>The madman named Tyrian Callows, however, showed none of the calm that Watts felt. He crouched more than he sat at his chair, looking about the room with a manic, hungry energy in his gaunt expression. The only thing that seemed to stave off boredom in the Faunus at having nothing to kill seemed to be his insane, zealous obsession with their employer.<br/><br/>And right now, someone had failed their master - Tyrian’s god. That meant he was angry. As Watts spoke, he could hear the lunatic scratching at the table, clearly eager to ask who he should kill next. That was a common question in Watts’ experience where Tyrian was concerned.<br/><br/>Of their group, only Hazel, the quiet, hulking giant, was elsewhere. Salem had many plans in motion, and he was seeing to another of them - chasing rumours and whispers that hinted at the presence of the Maidens, as ever a priority target for their plans.<br/><br/>There was only one other associate of theirs present….<br/><br/>“How are we going to find the Maidens now?” The girl seated at the table asked. Beneath her short head of dark hair, Cinder’s golden eyes burned with barely suppressed impatience.<br/><br/>Watts repressed the urge to scowl at the interruption. Of all the sycophants Salem had brought to their cause, the girl was worst of all.<br/><br/>Watts had brought a Kingdom to the edge of greatness; Tyrian and Hazel were fighters and trackers without peer. The girl… she was an irritant - an impatient whelp who had done nothing to earn her seat at Salem’s table. She had done some dirty work over the past few years as she completed her training; slit a few throats and learned what she could from thieves and liars, but she remained thoroughly unproven, as far as Watts was concerned.<br/><br/>For some reason Salem thought the girl was a worthy investment. How, he had no idea, when there was no shortage of proven warriors to be found outside of the Kingdoms who required none of the years of training Salem had given her. He’d almost have said she seemed fond of the girl, if he didn’t know better.<br/><br/>The coddling she’d received had only made her more hungry for power, and that had made her infinitely more insufferable to Watts.<br/><br/>“You shall have what I promised you, Cinder.” Salem gently reassured the girl. “One way or another, we will have our Maiden. We simply need to find a new strategy before moving forward.”<br/><br/>“Please, Your Grace. Tell me who needs to die for this <em>unforgivable</em> betrayal…” Tyrian begged, practically bouncing in his chair. “I will gladly silence Lionheart forever, if that is your wish!”<br/><br/>With an almost maternal look towards Tyrian, Salem shook her head.<br/><br/>“I have better uses for your talents in mind, Tyrian.” Salem decreed with a smile. “Leonardo knew nothing that could harm us. Hunting him now, when Ozpin has no doubt hidden him well, will simply be a distraction we cannot allow.”<br/><br/>“Then what do you want us to do, ma’am?” Watts asked.<br/><br/>“I would very much like to know how our informant in Mistral was exposed. There’s also the girl. This… Weiss Schnee. She interests me.” Salem spoke curiously.<br/><br/>Watts was too sensible to <em>openly</em> scoff at the strange notion. “With respect, ma’am, she’s just a child, and a lunatic at that. I don’t see how she could be of any importance. Surely there are better uses of our resources.”<br/><br/>Certainly, Leonardo’s last report had mentioned that Ozpin was looking for Jacques' idiot daughter, and that somehow the girl who had been locked up since the age of eight could be a useful source of intelligence, but surely that had been nothing but misdirection from the Beacon headmaster, seeing as he apparently knew that Leo was not to be trusted?<br/><br/>He didn’t see how a child in the Schnee girl’s position could possibly come to learn anything of use - certainly nothing that could harm those who worked for Salem.<br/><br/>“Do you think that if we are to successfully achieve our ambitions, Arthur, we can allow ourselves to ignore a single detail of how our informant in Mistral was discovered?” The Grimm creature asked him coldly.<br/><br/>The sound of Tyrian’s faint giggling echoed through the room, as Watts felt all eyes on him. Salem’s point was clear.<br/><br/><em>Your opinion has no relevance here - I’ve already made my decision, so you might as well like it.</em><br/><br/>“Ah, <em>no</em>, ma’am. I see your point.” He quickly backtracked.<br/><br/>“This child held Ozpin’s interest. For some reason, he thought she was important - important enough to alert all of his allies. I will not risk any unknown threats disrupting my new plans.” Salem decreed. “You will go to Mistral and Atlas, Arthur. I want you to find what you can about Lionheart’s removal, as well as this girl.”<br/><br/>“Of course, ma’am.” Watts conceded, taking some reassurance from the reminder of his value to this group.<br/><br/>In the old days, it might have taken weeks to confirm what Salem suspected with the silencing of their little messenger in Mistral. Now, with CCTnet access, it was a simple matter of checking the news and finding that Leo had, in the space of a day, abandoned his office and dropped off the map.<br/><br/>Of course, technology was a great boon, but it was also another shield with which their enemies protected the Kingdoms.<br/><br/>Salem had been playing at this game for a long, long time, but in this new age of technology and progress she had been left severely disadvantaged.<br/><br/>Before mass surveillance and CCTnet data storage a child like Weiss Schnee might have been considered impossible to find.<br/><br/>That was where he came in. All it would take was a little direct access to the Atlesian systems, arranged easily enough, and they could begin to construct a trail. He could discover secrets kept a thousand miles away in half the time it could take a group of trained trackers.<br/><br/>As foolish as he felt the idea was, Watts was at least aware that he of all people was uniquely qualified to carry it out.<br/><br/>“You’ll need help, of course, to evade detection.” Salem added. “Someone who can walk more openly without facing questions from the authorities.”<br/><br/>Watts understood. He was, after all, a dead man as far as the authorities were concerned, and his face was hardly one that people would have forgotten in Atlas. He might have had the talent to avoid the cameras, but field work was best left to the professionals. Tyrian or Hazel, perhaps. He would have preferred Hazel. Tyrian hardly made for an invigorating conversationalist and tended to leave... messes. Hazel could be counted on to do things more quietly.<br/><br/>That was when Salem’s gaze moved towards someone Watts very much <em>did not</em> want to have to work with.<br/><br/>“Cinder. You will accompany Doctor Watts. Ensure that he can complete his mission unharmed.”<br/><br/>It took a tremendous amount of effort to avoid audibly sighing at the command. Watts counted himself lucky that the faint scowl he allowed himself was hidden beneath his moustache.<br/><br/>For her part, Cinder didn’t seem much more pleased than he felt, though she was better at hiding it, bowing her head and smiling like a model servant.<br/><br/>For a moment, their eyes met, and an understanding dawned between two contemptuous stares.<br/><br/><em>I’m not going to be the one who fucks this up, and it better not be you.</em><br/><br/>“Tyrian.” Salem spoke again, looking back over at her loyal assassin.<br/><br/>“Yes, my Queen?”<br/><br/>“In the meantime, there are other ways to make our enemies bleed. You and Hazel are to work to thin the Huntsmen’s ranks while we prepare a new strategy.”<br/><br/>That seemed a sensible goal to Watts - Huntsmen died tragically all the time, after all, and they had more than a few lists of valuable targets to bump off whenever they had time away from more pressing matters. Every tiny cut would only make the larger plan easier.<br/><br/>The scorpion Faunus’ ever-present grin found a way to grow even wider. “I am honoured, your Grace.”<br/><br/>Salem rose from her throne, and with her so did the rest of those assembled, heads bowed in deference. As she spoke, her voice showed no sign of concern; only the same force of will that had brought them into her service from the beginning.<br/><br/>“In the end, Leonardo’s loss matters not. Haven may be lost to us for now, but what Leo told us can still be used against them. We’ll still have our Maiden soon. Ozpin has secured one weakness in his defences, but this does not make him invulnerable.<br/><br/>“I expect he thinks this has won him another generation free to live without fear. We shall have to prove him wrong.”<br/><br/>With that, the meeting was concluded, and Salem bade them all leave her.<br/><br/>With a light bow, Watts made his way from Salem’s chamber, making his way through the labyrinthine halls of Salem’s fortress to his own quarters - a comfortable set of rooms filled with various pieces of equipment suited to differing needs.<br/><br/>Soon, he would have to make preparations to journey with Cinder, and in Atlas, his technological know-how would be what kept him and the girl alive.<br/><br/>After all, if she didn’t return with him, there was a chance he would get the blame, and the last thing he wanted was the idea of Cinder Fall having the last laugh.<br/><br/>Still, Watts was unconcerned. Leonardo’s loss was no particular cause for worry to him. He was just one way they might have brought down the Kingdoms, and soon enough they would find another.<br/><br/>His employer might have enjoyed the benefits of immortality, but Salem wasn’t the only one who saw the bigger picture. In the end, against all they could and would bring to bear, Ozpin and the Kingdoms he protected didn’t stand a chance.<br/><br/>Once, his work had seen Atlas stand tall. In time, they’d learn just how small they were without his vision to guide them. With Salem’s help, he would have the revenge he had waited so long for.<br/><br/><br/></p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>The next chapter is going to, for the most part, leave Weiss behind and deal with the effects of her actions on the rest of Remnant, visiting familiar characters, some of whom you've already seen in this fic and some you haven't.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0018"><h2>18. 4.1 - Shadows, Part One</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p><b>Patch</b><br/><br/>“So, this is the plan?” Blake groaned, setting down her cup of tea on the hard floor and stretching out her arms, “Sit around and train and hope the world doesn’t burn down while we wait?”<br/><br/>“...Yep. For now, at least.” Weiss agreed tiredly from where she lay slumped in the corner of the room, buried beneath a pile of mismatched blankets they’d scavenged from around the house.<br/><br/>Winter was only just starting to give way to spring, and even though Weiss handled the cold better than Blake ever would, Blake had a feeling the girl was still revelling in the simple comforts she could find now that she was out in the world, even if she was still stuck in the middle of nowhere for now.<br/><br/>Qrow had kept his promise of helping to train the two girls, and right now they both felt the effects right in their bones. He’d put them through their paces, going through technique and fitness and digging out a few school textbooks to go over them what they’d need to do over the next few months to improve and get in shape.<br/><br/>As much as they’d both been eager to do what they could to learn, it didn’t change the fact that the last few days after they’d finally started training had been absolutely draining, and now they were both nursing their own fair share of cuts, bruises and aching limbs from training outside.<br/><br/>Somehow, though, tonight was another night neither of them could sleep through. They didn’t talk about why, but they both found themselves camping out in the bedroom Blake had claimed for her own, sitting around with cups of tea and coffee and talking until they felt tired (or at least tired enough that sleeping didn’t feel quite as frightening as it sometimes was).<br/><br/>“Doesn’t that worry you? After everything you’ve told me, you’re really sure they’re not going to mess it up?” Blake asked Weiss quietly, “Make things worse?”<br/><br/>“Do you see me sleeping at night right now?” Weiss replied with a tired shrug, head poking out from under the blankets and sitting back against the wall to look over at Blake.<br/><br/>That drew a sad smirk from Blake that quickly turned into a frown. She knew the answers to her questions already. She just… couldn’t stop thinking about it.<br/><br/>She didn’t know what to think of Ozpin and his methods, and she definitely knew what she thought about Atlas, and she could tell Weiss had similar doubts.<br/><br/>Even now, the news was full of stories about Huntsmen arresting droves of White Fang because of the fighting; plenty about Atlas soldiers and Specialists breaking up White Fang cells.<br/><br/>Blake hugged her knees and hid her face from Weiss, quietly rubbing the tears that threatened to spill out from her eyes. She didn’t want the other girl to notice.<br/><br/>She’d made her choice, and she still thought it had been the right one.<br/><br/>But not everyone in the White Fang had been like Adam or even like Sienna. They’d been doing their best to make things right, and now, things were going to be different. She just hoped someone would be out there to keep trying their best for the Faunus.<br/><br/>“I know they mean well,” Weiss gently tried to reassure Blake, ignorant to the thoughts churning in Blake’s head, “they’ll try to do what they can. Right now, there’s not much <em>we </em>can do.”<br/><br/>Blake nodded, dimly aware of what the other girl was saying. Weiss wasn’t wrong, as much as she hated admitting it.<br/><br/>“I’m sorry,” Blake told her, “I just… feel pretty useless in all this.”<br/><br/>“I get that. I wish I could do more,” Weiss agreed, “but I can’t. I’d just… get in the way. So for now, I’m giving them a chance to try and do the right thing with my knowledge.”<br/><br/>Blake didn’t say anything more for a while. She couldn’t exactly say she had a better idea, as much as she hated the idea of just sitting and waiting.<br/><br/>They’d get better. They’d get stronger. Things would be different; they’d both do what they could to make sure of that.<br/><br/>But right now, it wasn’t like they had much of a choice. They were still just kids.<br/><br/>So, for now, as much as they both had a lot of doubts about their allies, it was Ozpin’s turn to try and preserve the peace.<br/><br/>---<br/><br/><b>Mountain Glenn, Kingdom of Vale<br/><br/>Three Months After the Attack on Beacon</b><br/><br/>The tunnels weren’t quiet anymore.<br/><br/>At first, it had been the silence that unsettled everyone as they walked through the disused rail tunnels which ran throughout the underground sections of the old city.<br/><br/>The only sounds to be heard were the crunch of their boots on the cave floor, and the distant <em>cracks</em> of gunfire echoing from elsewhere in the city. It was obvious that not all of the teams were as alone as they were.<br/><br/>Then, they could hear them. Distant, rhythmic thumps. Just a few at first. Then more, and more and more. Then the gunfire in the distance wasn’t nearly so intermittent, anymore.<br/><br/>Then they sounded less like drumbeats and more like an earthquake - a wave of noise that got closer every second.<br/><br/>Mountain Glenn was waking up, and the city’s only inhabitants were just about to make their appearance.<br/><br/>The Grimm rushed the tunnel in a wave, barreling towards the Huntsmen that waited for them, lighting the long, dark spaces around them with the hateful red light of their eyes.<br/><br/>Dozens of the lithe, reptilian Creep burst from the ground from where they’d burrowed, while Beowolves clawed their way across the soil in packs, filling the tunnel with the noise of their screams. A few solitary Ursae shoved and cajoled their way through the crowd of creatures, uncaring as they crushed the frail forms of the lesser creatures that surrounded them.<br/><br/>The Specialists and their allies had only encountered a few stray groups of Grimm as they entered the dead city - small groups that hung around the ruins - it was inevitable that the longer they were present to complete their mission, the longer they spent thinking and feeling and fighting, the more Grimm would pour in from the surrounding area, desperate for the chance to kill.<br/><br/>Now, there had to have been over a hundred of them, and those were just the ones they could see in the dark space of the cavern. It made for an intimidating sight. But the Huntsmen were ready for them.<br/><br/>Clover looked between the two Huntsmen flanking him - standing out in the darkness in the stark Atlesian white of their uniforms. They exchanged nods and readied their weapons. They knew what to do.<br/><br/>The three Specialists stood in the open space of the tunnel - a nice set of targets for the Grimm to fixate on.<br/><br/>Then, suddenly, they ran, rushing forwards in the direction of the Grimm, ready to meet the mass of creatures head on.<br/><br/>Clover just made out a flash of lightning in the periphery of his vision, and watched as a set of Grimm were scattered back through the air as a blurry figure smashed into the wave of monsters. To his right, the ground erupted with ice, bursting upwards in spikes like immense caltrops, skewering a group of Beowolves before the other Grimm behind them managed to turn or halt.<br/><br/>Clover moved, rushing between the crowd of eager monsters as they scrambled to score a hit.<br/><br/>Kingfisher, Clover’s weapon, wasn’t exactly a brute force instrument - but, used correctly and with just a little bit of luck, the military-grade fishing pole could pack a punch.<br/><br/>Launching his hook, Clover struck a Grimm, propelling himself forward and finishing it with a quick strike from his weapon and his fists. All the while he dodged strikes from the snarling creatures. Before long, he’d downed more than a few Grimm, while gathering a little crowd of more of them, circling around him as he moved amidst the mob.<br/><br/>They were all young - born ferocious, like all Grimm, but stupid as well. They didn’t care to think about the other creatures fighting alongside them; not until a swipe from one blocked another’s, until one tripped over a Creep freshly emerged from the ground, until a strike meant for a Huntsmen split another Grimm in two. They also didn’t live long enough to benefit from the new experience, either, which was just how Clover liked it.<br/><br/>Most Huntsmen would have gotten hit more than a few times - it was inevitable in close quarters against large numbers. But the Ace-Ops weren’t just any Huntsmen. They were the best of the best in Atlas, and it showed.<br/><br/>Hare was a blur of motion across the tunnel, leaving sparks in her wake from the effect of her Semblance, only coming close to pausing to deliver punches that broke through bone and shattered flesh with the mechanical fists that added even more force to her strikes. Coupled with the momentum she quickly built up after just a few seconds of motion, there were few Grimm that could withstand a direct strike.<br/><br/>Where Hare and Clover weren’t, arrows rained down from the air, their tips glowing with explosive Dust. The team’s fifth member used his Semblance to leap and hover in the air, peppering the crowd of Grimm with arrows before falling rapidly to engage them in close quarters, his weapon splitting into a pair of blades that carved through the Grimm in whirlwind motions before he jumped up once more to attack at range.<br/><br/>They didn’t fight alone, either. Clover’s hook and Five’s Ice arrows held a few Grimm in place long enough for Hare to score a finishing blow, while the rapid movement of Hare distracted several of the flailing Grimm long enough for someone else to take them ot.<br/><br/>Behind the Specialists, a platoon of Atlesian infantry stood in static positions about the tunnel. Some of the armoured soldiers stood together on the ground, while others had taken up positions on decades-old scaffolding and abandoned train cars to gain vantage points.<br/><br/>Where the Huntsmen weren’t, bullets rushed through the air in precise volleys of fire, stunning the Grimm as their shots struck and killing more than a few of the monsters after multiple sustained hits. A few of the soldiers had set up heavier machine guns, adding to the rifle fire with roaring barrages that chewed through scores of Grimm at a time as quickly as it went through their ammunition.<br/><br/>Clover noted more than a few times how the form of a hulking Grimm drawing close fell dead, skull perforated and steaming from shots coming from one of the pairs of sharpshooters occupying the highest positions.<br/><br/>Given long enough, regular infantry could have fought off most of the Grimm in the tunnel with sustained fire, but not before enough had gotten close to deal heavy casualties in close combat. Not even the latest military armour could do much against a Beowolf’s bite once it had broken the meagre Aura of the regular soldiers.<br/><br/>That was where the Specialists came in - killing Grimm faster and more effectively than they could while giving the soldiers a chance to deal what damage they could without interruption.<br/><br/>The Huntsmen were protecting them, and they were protecting the soldiers trusted to carry out the main objective of their mission; a clustered group of engineers, setting charges along a stretch of the rail track that went through the caves.<br/><br/>Clover looked around in a brief lull in the fighting - lit by gunfire, he could see through the tunnel - see that the Grimm’s ranks were starting to thin. A few were even running away after watching dozens of the others killed in seconds, watching curiously from the distance.<br/><br/>Clover grinned as he moved back into the fight. The fight wasn’t going to last much longer.<br/><br/>Clover’s hook went out, seizing the leg of a larger Beowolf in mid-leap. Pulling it back towards him with a sharp tug, the hook and the Grimm soared inelegantly through the air to meet him. Leaping, Clover drew back his fist, striking the Grimm in the head before following up with a blow from his weapon. The brutalised Grimm rapidly fell downwards limply, striking the ground with a satisfying <em>thud</em> before evaporating.<br/><br/>Then, soon enough, things were quiet. The Grimm assault ran out of bodies to throw at them, with only a few stragglers surviving to flee.<br/><br/>Just as quickly as it had started, the fight was over. The tunnel wasn’t silent again, but the Grimm at least weren’t contributing anymore to the noise, their remaining corpses rapidly fading into smoke. Soon, the only evidence that there had been a fight at all were the scattered bullet casings and Dust residue that littered the tunnel’s surface.<br/><br/>Clover took a moment to catch his breath, allowing himself to sit on the cold floor of the tunnel for a few seconds. Looking around, he caught sight of his two teammates, similarly recovering from the few minutes of frantic combat. He was glad to note neither of them seemed to have taken any substantial hits; his own Aura remained at a decent level.<br/><br/>“Everyone okay?” Clover called out to the pair.<br/><br/>“Never better!” Hare called out, rubbing a stray bead of sweat from her closely-shaved scalp.<br/><br/>Five groaned faintly as he stretched his limbs, letting out a faint sigh. “Aura’s green; still got plenty of arrows.”<br/><br/>“Also got more kills than either of you.” The older Huntsman added dryly.<br/><br/>“<em>You did not!”</em> Hare scoffed.<br/><br/>Behind them, several of the soldiers were cheering each other, while others sat down, breathing heavy sighs of relief. More than a few awed looks were being sent the Specialists’ way as the trio returned to their makeshift positions.<br/><br/>“How are things going?” Clover asked the platoon’s leading officer.<br/><br/>“All good, sir! None of them got through.” The officer said, hastily reloading his pistol with a fresh magazine. Though the young officer’s eyes were hidden behind the faceplate of his helmet, the irrepressible grin on the man’s face showed he was still a little caught up in the heady rush of combat.<br/><br/>He gestured quickly to the group of engineers behind the front line. Hurriedly, one of the demolitions experts hopped over to them.<br/><br/>“Charges for this section are almost set, sir!” The engineer happily reported. “Should be able to get this lightshow ready to go in just another minute or two.”<br/><br/>Clover repressed a chuckle at the chipperness of the engineer. All Atlesian soldiers were trained to maintain a cool head in combat, but the ones entrusted with handling explosives were picked for their ability to keep their cool in a tense situation - which covered most situations where setting bombs was required. To those not used to working with them, they could come off as somewhat oddly cheery about their work.<br/><br/>“That’s… that’s good.” The officer turned to Clover. “We should be fine from here. We’ll call for backup if anything big shows up.”<br/><br/>Nodding, Clover looked to his teammates. “Come on, team. Let’s check up on the others.”<br/><br/>---<br/><br/>The honeycombed network of service tunnels that linked the subterranean portions of Mountain Glenn together was vast; linking practically all parts of the old city together. In a mission that required the rapid movement of their teams below ground, they were useful to have around.<br/><br/>That didn’t mean journeying through them was a pleasant experience. In the old days, they’d linked a civilisation - now, they were dark, crumbling, and more often than not a den for Grimm. While the Vale authorities had been able to provide a map for them, after years without maintenance, finding a dead end caused by a cave-in wasn’t uncommon.<br/><br/>Besides, they were also the same tunnels they were filling with increasing numbers of explosives at load-bearing points and rail lines. While Clover trusted the engineers not to detonate anything until everyone was safely above ground, it didn’t do anything to improve the dread that seemed to fill the dense air down there.<br/><br/>“I am<em> not</em> going to miss this place.” Hare muttered, glancing about the ruined hallway. “Give me a nice and open wilderness to fight in any day.”<br/><br/>As they made their way through the cramped tunnel, the distant <em>cracks </em>of gunfire continued to be heard. Even before they completed their objective, Clover had no doubts that the teams across the city would have put a hefty dent in the local Grimm population.<br/><br/>“That’s why we’re here.” Clover commented. “To make sure nowhere else has to end up like this.”<br/><br/>Harriet Bree was the newest member of the Ace-Ops, picked straight out of Atlas Academy for her uniquely useful Semblance, with combat skills to match, even if she was more than a little prone to competitive behaviour. So far, though, Clover thought things were working out with Hare in the team.<br/><br/>Walking beside Hare, Five was something of an older class of Huntsman, just about reaching the age where a dignified promotion from fieldwork to the classroom was in order. He’d been with the Ace-Ops longer than Clover, and made for a more than reliable supporting fighter in the team. His uniform was festooned with webbing and pouches, holding multi-purpose Dust cartridges for his arrows which lay stuffed into a quiver on his back.<br/><br/>Seeing ahead thanks to the flashlight of his military grade scroll, Clover frowned as he tried to access the team’s shared comms channel.<br/><br/>“Elm? Vine?” Clover called out. “Can either of you hear me? Please respond.”<br/><br/>Clover looked to the pair walking beside him.<br/><br/>“Still nothing. Either of you getting anything?”<br/><br/>Hare shook her head.<br/><br/>“Nothing. Can’t get anyone.” Five muttered, tapping at his Scroll. “Maybe it’s the tunnels, messing with the signal?”<br/><br/>“We’re getting close to their position.” Clover mused. “Hopefully, we’ll be able to make contact before-”<br/><br/>The distant <em>thump</em> of something slamming into something echoed from up ahead in the tunnels, shaking the ground and kicking up clouds of dust from the crumbling concrete.<br/><br/>“That sounded close.” Clover noted. “Hare, go scout up ahead. We’ll catch up with you.”<br/><br/>---<br/><br/>Fortunately, the source of the sound wasn’t far. Before long, the pair of rushing Specialists could hear the sounds of combat getting louder and clearer as they approached. Quickly, they found an exit and found themselves entering another of the large chambers that housed the underground railway line.<br/><br/>There, Clover made out a trio of familiar figures.<br/><br/>Hare was in the thick of the fight again, rushing between Grimm in a blur. Beside her were the remaining two Ace-Operatives, Elm and Vine. The lot of them were covering another platoon of infantry, this time holed up and firing from the rusting hull of an old train cab.<br/><br/>Elm’s weapon was a rocket-launcher-hammer hybrid; a weapon she used to great effect. The towering Specialist was the heavy hitter of their team - her bare arm rippled with bronzed muscle, and her Semblance only made her bulky form even more intimidating in a fight.<br/><br/>Alongside her, Vine was a somewhat subtler presence - the pale, gaunt man preferred making use of his Semblance to his weapon, projecting his Aura in to extend the reach of his limbs to grip enemies or leap to great heights.<br/><br/>Their opponents were another pack of Beowolves, accompanied this time by the immense form of a King Taijitu; a colossal serpent with a head at each end, its attention divided between the Huntsmen and their charges. The snake was massive; easily about the size of a freight truck, and every motion it made carried enough force to push aside any threat it struck. Only Elm's Semblance which fixed her firmly to the ground would be able to hold her against the creature's bulk.<br/><br/>Clover and Five rushed to assist the remainder of their team, but it looked like the other three had things well in hand.<br/><br/>Vine used his Semblance to grab and fling the smaller Grimm at each other, stunning them and the ones they struck, making them easy targets to finish off as Hare zipped about the room, punching her way through skull and flesh as she picked Beowolves off, one by one. The ones that weren’t killed this way died quickly and messily as Elm used her powerful hammer to crush any that came her way.<br/><br/>Before long, the Beowolves looked to be dealt with. Then, Elm turned to face their final target. Surrounded by enemies, the two heads of the Taijitu darted around, seemingly unable to decide on which enemy to go for first.<br/><br/>“Come on, big guy! You know you want some!” Elm barked up at the Taijitu. One of its heads turned, mouth widening hungrily, as it readied to strike the standing Specialist.<br/><br/>Fixing herself to the ground with her Semblance, Elm was more than prepared to meet the Taijitu’s bite. Holstering her hammer, the Specialist stood ready as the creature’s maw sprung downwards in a flash of motion, the other head of the creature <em>yelping</em> as it was pulled along by the movement.<br/><br/>The next thing anyone saw was the sight of Elm, gripping the Grimm’s enormous fangs in her hands, not moving an inch against the force exerted by the immense beast. She had it.<br/><br/>Releasing her Semblance, Elm moved, still holding the Grimm’s fangs tight in her grip. Roaring, she redirected the creature’s momentum, flinging it to the side until it smashed against the tunnel wall, a limp mass of writhing flesh, stunned for the moment.<br/><br/>Elm didn’t stop. Retrieving her hammer, she ran for the Grimm.<br/><br/>“Hold it down!” She shouted.<br/><br/>“Got it!” Hare complied, hurriedly working herself into a lightning sprint towards the Taijitu with such force that her steps left cracks in the concrete surface as she moved. In the space of seconds, she was holding the creature down with the strength of her mechanical gauntlets.<br/><br/>Without a word, Vine projected his own Semblance, the long limbs formed from his projected Aura reaching out to help hold the Grimm’s body down.<br/><br/>Against the strength of a powerful creature like a Taijitu, the pair couldn’t last long before it broke free. But Elm didn’t need long.<br/><br/>The twin thrusters in Elm’s hammer roared to life, blasting the Huntress forwards through the air. Adjusting the weapon, Elm rapidly adjusted trajectory, driving the hammer’s head downwards onto the vast skull of the Taijitu.<br/><br/>It was a quick death for the immense Grimm, almost instantly caving through the bone mask in a spray of shadowy flesh, as the Grimm evaporated to nothing in seconds.<br/><br/>Without the Grimm’s bulk to block her descent, Elm continued falling, slamming against the wall in a heap.<br/><br/>Glancing around, Clover saw that the rest of the Grimm seemed to have been killed, the gunfire having halted and the tunnel going relatively quiet. They’d made it in just at the end of the fight.<br/><br/>Elm didn’t seem too deterred by her hard landing; the towering Specialist simply sat up and laughed, glancing over at Hare.<br/><br/>“Not bad, rookie!” Elm cheered before hauling herself up. “Thanks for the assist.”<br/><br/>“Hey, Flavius!” Hare called out to Five as the archer drew closer. “You should try moving a little faster. Think my kill-count’s definitely higher than yours by now, old man.”<br/><br/>“The day is young, Bree.”<br/><br/>“Unlike you.”<br/><br/>“Oh, <em>that’s </em>a burn.” Elm commented.<br/><br/>“I didn’t see any Grimm engaging us that were capable of producing flame.” Vine mused alongside her, concern in his voice. “Are you sure that’s-”<br/><br/>“Not that kind of burn, Vine.” Elm clarified.<br/><br/>“Good to see you’re all enjoying your work.” Clover said as he walked over to their position. “How are things going down here, Elm?”<br/><br/>“Good to see you, boss.” Elm huffed, leaning on her hammer as she rested.<br/><br/>“Bastards dug themselves a new hole in the walls behind our flank,” She gestured to a gaping hole torn in the cave walls, “caught us by surprise, so we got the infantry and the engineers to take cover in the train cars.”<br/><br/>Clover looked over to the cabs where the infantry were slowly but surely getting out of cover, picking up anything dropped in the scramble to hide from the sudden influx of Grimm.<br/><br/>He was sorry to note the wounded, groaning forms of more than a few Atlesian soldiers on the ground, but it was good to see that most of them had made it out of the fight more or less intact.<br/><br/>“It was a good call, Elm. We’ll help cover this lot while they finish up and then we can move on up to the next objective together.”<br/><br/>All over the city, Atlas and Vale Huntsmen were deployed in groups alongside Atlesian army forces, seeing to whatever objectives they’d been assigned. Any manner in which Mountain Glenn could serve as a base from which to attack Vale was to be attacked and destroyed - from blowing the railway tunnels connecting the city to Vale that had been left alone for decades in the city’s depths to setting up auto turrets that would hopefully cull the city’s Grimm population for a good while before running out of ammo or being destroyed.<br/><br/>Calling it a stealth operation wasn’t strictly accurate. The operation might have been arranged in secret, and they were trying to do things as covertly as possible, but that didn’t preclude the use of force to quickly achieve their aims. And force was definitely something that was being used in great quantities. By the time they were done, Mountain Glenn would be looking very different, indeed.<br/><br/>“It doesn’t seem that the platoon have suffered any lethal casualties.” Vine noted as he glanced towards the recovering force of infantry. “With five Huntsmen, we should be able to escort the wounded out, even if we’re attacked again.”<br/><br/>Clover nodded. “Looks like our luck’s holding. That Taijitu was the largest Grimm I’ve seen all day. I don’t think many of the older ones are coming out to fight us.”<br/><br/>“Eh, I’m not scared of any Goliaths.” Elm chuckled. “My hammer smashes Grimm skulls in whatever the size.”<br/><br/>“Probably,” Hare mused with a grin, “But I reckon I’d get there with my fists before you got the chance.”<br/><br/>“Hah!” Elm laughed, “Wanna bet?”<br/><br/>“Alright, then.” Clover said, “Engineers are probably going to take a little longer with this one. Take a breather, all of you. Let’s wait and see if any more Grimm fancy paying us a visit.”<br/><br/>With that, the team sat together and started resting themselves for the next fight, wherever or whenever that would be.<br/><br/>Despite the grim location they found themselves in, despite the ever-present prospect of another attack, Clover found himself smiling.<br/><br/>This was his team - one he was proud to lead. Together, they all had their quirks, but they got the job done, and they did it well.<br/><br/>The world would need Huntsmen like them in the days ahead; Clover knew that more than most.<br/><br/>But what was new about that? Like the rest of the things he’d been briefed on in recent days, Clover found a change in context did little to change the mission. The Kingdoms had always needed Huntsmen, even if they hadn’t known the real threat waiting behind the Grimm.<br/><br/>The Ace-Ops would strive to succeed again as they had before, no matter the threat.</p><p> </p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>And so we begin with Shadows. It's going to be split into sets of parts, each focusing on a different set of characters in Remnant and where they’ve ended up in this changed timeline. We'll be starting with the Ace-Ops doing something that's (almost) unproblematic and genuinely helpful (for once). </p><p>Five is, of course, an OC, and is Marrow’s predecessor on the team. I did take the time to pick out a fable to base him on, which I think fits his choice of weapon fairly well.</p><p>It stood to reason that the Ace-Ops aren’t a traditional team by any metric, and have probably had several different members over the years.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0019"><h2>19. 4.2 - Shadows, Part Two</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p><br/><b>Mountain Glenn, Kingdom of Vale</b><br/><br/>“Okay, I’ve just been wondering something. Why are we here?” Hare asked, sipping from her canteen.<br/><br/>After the last engagement, it hadn’t looked like any more Grimm were ready to show up, so, while waiting for the group of engineers to finish setting the charges, the Ace-Ops sat down and recuperated, waiting for their Aura to recover and breaking open a few of the combat rations they’d been provided. After a few hours of rushing about and fighting Grimm, even veteran Specialists could benefit a lot from a hot meal.<br/><br/>“Physically, emotionally, metaphysically?” Vine posed to Hare thoughtfully. He sat, cross-legged on the floor, sipping at a tin cup filled with instant tea.<br/><br/>Elm chuckled between munches of a ration bar. “Been sleeping through the briefings, Hare?”<br/><br/>Hare rolled her eyes at her towering teammate. “I know <em>why</em> we’re here. I’m asking why <em>we’re </em>here. Why is Atlas here, doing this? Can’t Vale keep their own backyard in order?”<br/><br/>“I don’t question my orders, Hare. I just follow them.” Elm replied with a dismissive gesture.<br/><br/>“It’s not about that.” Clover tried to explain. “Vale’s got more than enough Huntsmen who could get this job done. What it’s about is sending a strong message to boost morale. When the Vale Council announces what we’ve done in Mountain Glenn to the public, it’ll provide everyone with a solid example of inter-Kingdom cooperation.”<br/><br/>And right now, people needed reminders of things like that now more than ever. With the White Fang showing no signs of stopping their war with their enemies or with each other, the last thing people needed were more reasons to panic.<br/><br/>A success at Mountain Glenn would be the first real good news - the first real victory against a perceived threat in months, achieved through international cooperation. That, and a little payback on Vale’s behalf, would hopefully give the people a reason to feel some hope.<br/><br/>“Besides, you know civvie Huntsmen.” Elm added. “They’re fun, but they love to flap their mouths. Can’t have people finding out about something like this until we’ve sorted it out.”<br/><br/>Strictly speaking, Elm wasn’t entirely wrong. The mission had been kept secret to avoid panic - hardly unreasonable, considering how unstable things were in Vale.<br/><br/>Still, Clover didn’t quite agree with her.<br/><br/>“I don’t think you give them enough credit, Elm. We’re working with some Vale Huntsmen here.” He pointed out. While Atlas was contributing a great deal of material, a fair share of the Huntsmen teams escorting the Atlesian soldiers and engineers were from Vale.<br/><br/>Elm shrugged. “The ones they could trust to keep their mouths shut.”<br/><br/>That was when Clover heard the crunch of footsteps behind him. He turned to see the commander of the platoon of infantry and their attached engineers, a Lieutenant called Irving, walking up to his team. Behind her, the last of her troops were piling out of the train cars they’d taken up as impromptu defensive positions while watching over the crew of engineers setting charges in the chamber.<br/><br/>“Sir. This chamber’s rigged and my men are ready to move.” The Lieutenant informed Clover.<br/><br/>A bandage covered the woman’s right eye from where a Grimm’s claw must have cleaved past her helmet’s protection, but she seemed undaunted - like her unit, the officer had taken a beating in the last few hours of fighting through the tunnels, but they were still ready and willing to fight.<br/><br/>“Glad to hear it. Can all of your troops walk out of here?” Clover asked.<br/><br/>“I’d be more than happy to carry some!” Elm rushed to stand, flexing her substantial biceps with an equally immense grin. “There’s plenty of room up here!”<br/><br/>“<em>...uh…</em> We’re good, ma’am, <em>uh, </em>sir!” Irving clarified, suppressing a faint blush as she glanced for a moment in Elm’s direction before hurriedly looking back to Clover.<br/><br/>“Just get us out of here so we can watch this place go up from a nice safe distance,” The Lieutenant coughed, her expression quickly returning to professional neutrality, “that’ll make the wounds more than worth it.”<br/><br/>“I think we can arrange that.” Clover confirmed with a smile, as the officer turned back to her unit.<br/><br/>Already, the Atlesian soldiers had patched themselves up to the best of their ability, packing their equipment up and getting ready to move.<br/><br/>The infantry had stood besides the Huntsmen through the deserted streets of Mountain Glenn. They’d done well in the fighting - shown that with the right technological backing, even non-Huntsmen could still score hits against the Grimm. It was an inspiring thing to think about.<br/><br/>The knowledge that the General had shared with him; the ways in which the security they’d taken for granted could be so vulnerable, no matter the valour of those sworn to maintain it, was always present in the forefront of his mind.<br/><br/>That was why Clover knew that missions like this were vital. There was a lot he hadn’t been cleared to hear about yet, but what he did know was enough to convince him that things would be far worse if they didn’t take steps to secure every possible advantage. Clover had no doubts that with soldiers and Huntsmen like the ones around him, they’d succeed.<br/><br/>Mountain Glenn would just be the start of that.<br/><br/>Clover turned to the group of Ace-Operatives behind him, the Specialists already standing and ready to move.<br/><br/>“C’mon, team. Job’s not done yet.”<br/><br/>They weren’t in Mountain Glenn just to deal with the rail lines, after all.<br/><br/>---<br/><br/>It didn’t take long to reach the surface - with the rail lines primarily underground, the city itself was dotted with stations and other access points linking the network to the surface.<br/><br/>As they emerged, the sun still shone clearly down on the city; the operation had started in the early hours of the morning. The distant sounds of gunfire and combat dimly echoed across the landscape.<br/><br/>About the ruined structures of Mountain Glenn, aircraft buzzed about through the skies - some were transports picking up teams who’d completed their objectives, while at least a few were Atlesian gunships intermittently hosing down stretches of the surface with fire as they provided air support.<br/><br/>Within a few minutes of reaching the surface, a pair of Atlesian military transports - sleek, white bullheads marked with the seal of Atlas - descended to their position, picking up Irving and her team to return them to base.<br/><br/>The Ace-Ops stayed behind, however. They had other work left to do.<br/><br/>A lot of people were on the ground tackling the designated objectives, but Mountain Glenn was still a city - each team would have to cover a lot of ground and multiple objectives. The Ace-Operatives last objective was unrelated to most of the tasks being performed that day, but it was important in a different way.<br/><br/>Travelling through the city was a challenge of its own kind.<br/><br/>A lot of the city’s infrastructure had been damaged when the city fell, and what the Grimm hadn’t destroyed hadn’t been able to escape the decay brought by long years of neglect. More often than not the team had to take a new path opened up through the collapsed structures when one of the old roads or bridges were blocked by debris. What looked like a shorter path on the old maps the Vale government had provided might no longer exist.<br/><br/>Then there were the bodies, or what was left of them. They weren’t everywhere - Grimm had a tendency to destroy even human remains once there was nothing obvious left to kill or break, but it was hard to turn a street corner without finding at least a few bones lying about in the corner, covered in long-tattered rags.<br/><br/>Clover tried his best to ignore them. That was one of the first instincts any Huntsman was made to cultivate when being trained for operating around settlements lost to the Grimm.<br/><br/>Dealing with the fact that a large portion of the city’s population <em>hadn’t</em> been evacuated in time and, in fact, could be found dead all around them was something to be thought of when they were back in friendly territory.<br/><br/>There was a reason that even when new settlement came up as an idea, reclaiming places like Mountain Glenn wasn’t often spoken of - fighting for new territory was a far safer prospect than fighting surrounded by the ghosts of past failures.<br/><br/>It was maybe half an hour of walking through the ruins before they got close to their objective - situated in the centre of the old city. So far, there hadn’t been any more signs of Grimm activity - it looked like the combat in the tunnels had drawn most of the Grimm there. With the remaining area to travel composed of wide open spaces, Clover was confident that his team would see any stragglers coming.<br/><br/>“Looks clear.” Clover noted, looking about the cluster of taller buildings they were headed to. “Come on. We’re almost there. The unit assigned to escort Doctor Oobleck should be waiting up ahead.”<br/><br/>“There’s the place we’re looking for, right?” Elm asked, gesturing to a building ahead.<br/><br/>Compared to the rest of the city, it looked relatively intact from the outside, but the skyscraper had still clearly seen better days.<br/><br/>“Merlot Industries...” Hare said, looking up at the faded logo painted onto the side of the crumbling, aged structure. “I’ve never heard of them before all of this.”<br/><br/>Merlot Industries was the other reason they’d been sent to Mountain Glenn.<br/><br/>The fact that in the grand scheme of things the mad scientist who’d managed to destroy an entire city with his research on live Grimm was still the smaller threat only showed why he had to be dealt with as soon as possible. It was bad enough having one dangerous group of insurgents with influence over the Grimm to worry about.<br/><br/>Merlot was, according to the General’s source, operating out of Forever Fall, but it was still likely that some of his work was present in Mountain Glenn, below the company’s old headquarters. As long as any of it existed, it posed a threat, especially if his work on enhancing the Grimm were to be discovered by the Kingdoms’ other enemies.<br/><br/>If all went well, there wouldn’t be anything left to discover once the Ace-Ops and the other Huntsmen assigned to clearing the structure had done their job.<br/><br/>“They went under when I was a kid.” Five commented. “Not long after this place fell to bits. All over the news, back then, but they didn’t leave much of a legacy to remember.”<br/><br/>“They’ll definitely be remembered after we’re done here.” Hare muttered.<br/><br/>Carefully, the team continued to make their way through the deserted streets, until at last they turned a corner and stood close within the shadow of their target.<br/><br/>“Well, time to put this place out of business for good.” Elm declared cheerfully, dramatically cracking her knuckles with a grin on her face.<br/><br/>“Remember, Elm; we are looking for intelligence about Merlot as well as endeavouring to destroy whatever creations of his are present. Perhaps you should endeavour to restrain your combat technique while we’re inside?” Vine gently reminded her.<br/><br/>“The building’s not exactly stable, either. So… try and use discretion, everyone.” Clover added.<br/><br/>Elm huffed, sounding scandalised. “I can be discreet!”<br/><br/>“...Are you guys gonna pick up the pace or what?” A new voice called out tiredly from behind.<br/><br/>As one, the group turned in a blur, weapons drawn.<br/><br/>As if from nowhere, there was a man standing behind them, clothed in dark shades that matched his black hair, wearing a tattered red cloak. He looked the part of a Huntsman, going by the hefty-looking blade held loosely in his hand.<br/><br/>He also looked a little worse for wear, to put it lightly. His skin looked a little paler than could be ascribed simply to a natural tone, and there were faint bags under his eyes.<br/><br/>“Who’re you supposed to be?” Elm asked, lowering her weapon with the rest of the team once it was clear the Huntsman wasn’t hostile.<br/><br/>The man took a swig from a flask in his hand, a faint smirk on his face. “Name’s Branwen. I’m with Oobleck. You the backup we were supposed to wait for?”<br/><br/>“We’re the Ace-Operatives. Atlesian Specialists.” Clover introduced his team, shaking off the momentary surprise. It wasn’t exactly easy to get the jump on a group of trained Atlesian Specialists, but somehow this Huntsman had managed it.<br/><br/>“Yeah, the uniforms kinda gave that away.” Qrow muttered, looking over the team in front of him. His red eyes narrowed as he gave them a once over.<br/><br/>“Five team members, huh?” The tired-looking Huntsman noted. “Isn’t that bad luck, or something?”<br/><br/>Clover chuckled with a shrug. “I think our luck’s held so far. How about you?”<br/><br/>Something dark passed over the man’s face as he glanced away for a moment - a look Clover didn’t quite understand, but quickly the stranger was looking back in the Specialists’ direction.<br/><br/>“Not too bad.” The Huntsman explained. “Your friends in the tunnels seem to be attracting most of the Grimm.”<br/><br/>“Yeah - I don’t think you’ll need to be worrying about those any more.” Elm laughed.<br/><br/>“Fortunately,” Vine noted, “It doesn’t appear that many of the larger Grimm in the area have participated in the attacks.”<br/><br/>“That’s not luck.” The man chuckled darkly. “They’re just smart enough to know better than to get involved. Not until things are just right.”<br/><br/>With that, the Huntsman gestured to the entrance of the Merlot Industries tower.<br/><br/>“C’mon. The Doc’s waiting just outside.” Branwen said, before turning and walking off in the direction of the building. Hesitantly, the Ace-Ops made to move in the man’s direction, towards the entrance of the old tower.<br/><br/>“Well, that guy was <em>textbook </em>ominous.” Hare muttered once the guy was out of sight.<br/><br/>“You’ll hear no argument from me.” Five concurred.<br/><br/>Clover shook his head gently with a faint sigh. So, some civilian Huntsmen could be a little rough around the edges. He’d wait and see the Huntsman in combat before coming to any conclusions.<br/><br/>---<br/><br/>Clover imagined the Merlot Industries reception might once have seemed the height of modern comfort, but all that remained inside now were crumbling walls, scattered furniture and faded logos on the walls. It was still a vast room, however, built to accommodate a large number of visitors, with open, long since shattered windows on the entrance that gave people on the outside a view within.<br/><br/>Standing outside the entrance were another platoon of Atlesian soldiers - these ones looking to be in considerably better condition than the others the Ace-Ops had worked with that day, without damage to their equipment or any visible injuries. They were the ones who’d been tasked with escorting the Huntsman now standing next to Branwen.<br/><br/>Doctor Oobleck was certainly a distinctive presence among their forces - a noted academic and prominent member of the Beacon Academy faculty who’d played a large part in planning the operation thanks to his thorough knowledge of the city of Mountain Glenn. He also had a bit of a reputation among Beacon graduates for being eccentric in his own unique way.<br/><br/>The gaunt, middle-aged man seemed to physically shake with excitement, moving erratically in swift, sudden motions, which combined with his lengthy head of unkempt green hair didn’t do anything to dispel the sense of unstable enthusiasm that the man radiated.<br/><br/>Branwen seemed to say something to the man, and the Doctor rapidly turned to greet the Ace-Ops.<br/><br/>“Ah good, our Atlesian colleagues! I was wondering where you’d found yourselves.<em>” </em>The man cheerfully gushed. “<em>Sofarwe’veencounteredminimaldisturbancebuttimeisoftheessenceconsideringtherisks!”</em><br/><br/>“What.” Hare coughed, looking around to check everyone else’s reaction. “Is he-”<br/><br/>“<em>Iwouldhavegoneinwithmypresentescort, butwemustallremembertheimportanceofnotallowingoverenthusiasmtooutweightacticalsense!</em>” Oobleck spoke in a single long ramble, pausing only to take a single, hurried slurp from his thermos before continuing on about… something.<br/><br/>“<em>What.” </em>Hare repeated again, dumbstruck.<br/><br/>Clover felt all eyes widen around him, his own included, as the Huntsman’s speech grew faster and faster without showing any sign of fatigue.<br/><br/>Beside Oobleck, Branwen buried his face in his hands.<br/><br/>“Does anyone know what the skinny man is saying?” Elm whispered loudly to the rest of them, before glancing at their newest member. “How about you, Hare?”<br/><br/>Bree scoffed. “Just because I can go fast doesn’t mean I can speak… whatever <em>that</em> is.”<br/><br/>“He’s providing a historical anecdote about the merits of caution in battle.” Vine commented serenely, seemingly listening intently to the Beacon professor’s explanation without difficulty.<br/><br/>“Wait, you understand him?” Hare asked.<br/><br/>“He is speaking the same language as the rest of us, I assure you. Perhaps you should simply listen harder?” Vine replied.<br/><br/>“<em>Barty.</em>” Branwen coughed. For a moment, the Beacon professor glanced back at his companion, seeming to understand his meaning at a glance. Sheepishly, the tall man looked back to the assembled group in front of him.<br/><br/>“Ah my apologies. Sometimes I do get somewhat carried away. Field work can get rather exciting - not to mention the chance to uncover the secrets of history at long last!” Oobleck explained, still speaking at a frantic pace, but one that was just about understandable.<br/><br/>“Of course, Doctor.” Clover said. “My team’s ready to assist you with whatever needs doing.”<br/><br/>One of the Atlesian soldiers walked over from the unit escorting Oobleck waiting at the entrance to the building.<br/><br/>“Uh, sir, my unit is ready to enter the building.” The officer explained. “Just waiting on your word.”<br/><br/>“Excellent!” Oobleck exclaimed, gesticulating enthusiastically, “Shall we proceed onwards?”<br/><br/>---<br/><br/>The interior of the Merlot Industries building was less intact than the outside of the structure. Dust and debris were littered about the hallways, and several walls had been torn out, presumably by Grimm. A pair of auto-turrets had once poked out from the ceiling, but had been ripped from their casings and scattered to the floor long ago.<br/><br/>The Ace-Operatives and Vale Huntsmen took point, the platoon of Atlesian foot soldiers trailing behind as the group made their way deeper into the building. Oobleck led the way, accompanied closely by Branwen. The dark-haired Huntsman’s redeyes were wary, constantly darting around the area for any indication of a threat.<br/><br/>“Do you see anything?” Clover asked him. The place looked abandoned, but he didn’t deny the possibility that the Grimm were just waiting for an opportune moment to strike.<br/><br/>“What?” Branwen asked sharply, before shrugging. “No… just being careful.”<br/><br/>“So, what? They had this whole tower to themselves?” Hare asked, pointing to a faded floorplan on the wall. “This corporation must have been doing well before all <em>this </em>happened.”<br/><br/>Clover agreed. He couldn’t think of many companies who could afford an entire structure as large as the multiple-storey skyscraper all to themselves - not to mention the substantial underground sections of the facility.<br/><br/>“Merlot Industries were rather prominent before their collapse.” Oobleck explained. “Their research here pioneered several radical technological advancements in a variety of fields. Robotics, weaponry, medicine...”<br/><br/>“Grimm.” Hare added.<br/><br/>“Indeed.” Oobleck agreed, his tone sombre. “Of course, that aspect of Merlot’s work was never revealed until now. It is more than a little disquieting to consider the possibilities of what he may have achieved given the decades it’s been since his disappearance.”<br/><br/>That had been one of the big ambiguities about the mission. While their source knew Merlot was still around, there’d been no indication of how close the Doctor was to accomplishing what he was looking for - only what his end goal was.<br/><br/>The group made their way past the reception, into a long set of hallways where a cluster of elevator doors stood as well as a staircase.<br/><br/>“Well, I don’t think it’s much of a stretch to say the elevators won’t be working.” Clover noted. “Which way do you want to go first, Doctor?”<br/><br/>“Hmm… While our information is limited concerning the layout of the building, the research labs are likely beneath us in the lower levels.” The Doctor said.<br/><br/>“Alright then…” Clover said, glancing about the group. He was ready to suggest heading down the stairs when one of the Atlesian soldiers stepped towards one of the elevator doors - one that looked like it had been forced open, exposing the empty shaft behind it.<br/><br/>The soldier peered down the disused elevator shaft, kneeling to get a better look inside as he clutched the doors.<br/><br/>“What the…?” The trooper muttered. All eyes turned in his direction. A faint noise seemed to echo from the bottom of the shaft. Hurriedly, the soldier stood up, reaching for his weapon.<br/><br/>“See anything down there, soldier?” Clover called out.<br/><br/>“<em>Ohshit </em>- oh shit oh shit oh-” The Atlesian cried out as he scrambled away suddenly from the door, levelling his weapon in a panicked rush.<br/><br/>They heard it crawling up the shaft before it broke through. That gave them a few seconds to ready their weapons and pull back.<br/><br/>The Grimm tore through the elevator doors, forcing the gap even wider as it carved through the metal doors like paper, leaping out into the hall. Its’ bulky, muscled form slammed into the floor as its head turned to the humans around it, glaring hungrily with eyes that glowed lambent green.<br/><br/>It looked the part of an Alpha Beowolf, but its flesh was encrusted with strange green crystals, bursting out from its back and glowing beneath its shadowy flesh, producing strange fumes that trailed behind it as it moved.<br/><br/>There was something wrong about it; it looked twisted and deformed, more so than regular Grimm. It looked almost emaciated as it flung itself across the hall, enraged.<br/><br/>And it was fast. In a matter of seconds it had pounced on the column of Atlesian soldiers, shrugging off panicked volleys of gunfire as it prowled, swiping at whatever humans it could reach, tossing the soldiers around like ragdolls as it broke through their formation.<br/><br/>“What the hell is it?” Someone yelled.<br/><br/>“What do you <em>think? </em>Just shoot it until it’s dead!” Branwen shouted, rushing towards the strange Grimm with his own sword, the Ace-Ops hurrying to join him.<br/><br/>"Do not use any explosives! The building is quite unstable!" Oobleck called out.<br/><br/>The creature was manic, relentlessly moving between targets as it clawed its way through the hall. More than once it moved faster than it could turn to make an attack, slamming against the walls as it screamed, making the building shake around them.<br/><br/>Branwen’s weapon shifted, revealing a pair of shotgun barrels that blasted at the frenzied Grimm. Five shot a flurry of arrows, peppering it with shards of Ice Dust that cut into its flesh and slowed its joints. The creature remained mobile, however, and the few hits that got in only seemed to make it angrier. Elm rushed it with her hammer, trying her best to score a hit on its limbs.<br/><br/>“I’m afraid our tactics appear to be inefficient!” Oobleck commented loudly from among the Atlesians, rushing in to whack the Grimm with his own weapon; his... <em>thermos…</em><br/><br/>Clover decided he really couldn’t really judge, and he was sure it had some kind of trick to it.<br/><br/>“Hold its legs!” Branwen called out before running towards the Grimm. Wordlessly, Clover cast his hook out, and the other Ace-Ops followed. Moving as fast as they could, they did what they could. Clover’s hook pulled on one of the creature’s legs; Elm and Vine made use of their Semblances to physically grapple the creature, while Hare struck at the creature’s remaining leg in a rush of motion, pounding it with a single strike that made something snap.<br/><br/>Glancing off continued gunfire from the soldiers, the creature seemed undaunted. It made to break free, trying its best to shake the Huntsmen holding it down off.<br/><br/>From the side, an arrow tipped with Fire Dust raced towards the creature’s eye, exploding in a rush of smoke that left the creature screaming a pained shriek.<br/><br/>Swiftly, Branwen’s weapon shifted into another form- an enormous scythe, which the Huntsman brought around in a quick swing, severing one of the screaming Grimm’s limbs. Then, just as quickly, Branwen’s weapon was a sword again, the Huntsman rushing beneath the Grimm’s body to drag his blade through the creature’s abdomen.<br/><br/>A second later, and the Grimm fell apart in two pieces, falling still to the ground and bleeding more of the strange green substance all over the floor. Quickly, it faded, but the green shards didn’t.<br/><br/>“<em>Hmm… </em>Curious…” Oobleck noted, peering over the creature’s remains.<br/><br/>Clover let out a deep breath as everyone in the room relaxed ever so slightly. A few of the soldiers hurriedly moved to attend to several of their wounded peers, writhing on the floor with open wounds and shattered limbs.<br/><br/>It didn’t look like the creature - confirmation of their intelligence regarding Merlot’s work - had any friends rushing to join it.<br/><br/>That was when the building started shaking again, and this time, it didn’t sound like it was stopping.<br/><br/>“Oh, <em>what now?!” </em>One of the soldiers cried out, as dust and shards of debris began to rain down from the ceiling.<br/><br/>Above them, a set of repeated <em>slamming</em> sounds seemed to be getting closer and closer.<br/><br/>“Get down there!” Oobleck gestured to the nearby staircase, “The structure above us is collapsing!”<br/><br/>“Shouldn’t we-” Hare called out, pointing in the direction they’d come from.<br/><br/>“Entrance is too far back - you wanna be buried alive?” Branwen yelled.<br/><br/>As the group rushed for the staircase, chunks of masonry began to fall from the collapsing floors above.<br/><br/>“Team, cover the others!” Clover ordered as everyone around them made to move. Hurriedly, a few rushed to drag or carry the wounded, while one of the soldiers hopped between the limp forms of a few others, pulling away tags as he went.<br/><br/>Vine caught several hunks of concrete with his Semblance, tossing them out of the way of the group. Hare rushed about, pushing debris and soldiers out of eachothers’ way as the group moved. Elm was among the soldiers, hefting a few of the wounded over her shoulders as she rushed to the stairs. Clover hooked a few pieces himself, and while he couldn’t exactly tell, he hoped his Semblance was doing its work to keep the others around him alive.<br/><br/>In a matter of seconds, almost everyone was rushing down to the sublevels. He hoped that would be enough.<br/><br/>Standing by as the rest of the group rushed by him down the staircase, trying his best to watch out for any stragglers, Clover felt a firm grip on his shoulder pull him downwards at the last moment before the ceiling finally caved in.<br/><br/>Rushing down the stairs, Clover and Branwen - the last two down, quickly cleared the staircase, reaching the next level down in a hurry as debris rained down from above.<br/><br/>A level below the ground floor, what light there was from above was quickly snuffed out as clouds of dust filled the air around them.<br/><br/>There they stood for another minute or so as the building collapsed over their heads. Eventually, things were more or less quiet.<br/><br/>“I think it’s stopped.” One of the soldiers noted, struggling to avoid coughing up the dust that filled the area.<br/><br/>“D-did we leave anyone up there?” Another of the soldiers asked.<br/><br/>“No one who was still breathing, I don’t think.”<br/><br/>Gradually, the room lit up as weapon-mounted flashlights and other light sources came to life, illuminating the hallway around them.<br/><br/>The staircase was packed with debris - as far as Clover could tell, there wasn’t any way of getting out through the floor above them with the remainder of the old tower packed on top.<br/><br/>“Well,” Oobleck spoke, using his flamethrower-thermos as a makeshift torch, “I daresay we’ll have to go further into the facility to find an exit, now.”<br/><br/>The soldiers looked calm, but there was no denying the sudden panic that had filled everyone as the building came down around them.<br/><br/>And with panic...<br/><br/>“Alright, people. Get up and get ready.” Clover said to those around him, readying Kingfisher. “This isn’t over yet.”<br/><br/>In the distance, the sound of several <em>somethings</em> moving drew closer.</p><p> </p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0020"><h2>20. 4.3 - Shadows, Part Three</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p><b>Mountain Glenn, Kingdom of Vale</b><br/><br/>“Nothing but busted computers and empty cages.” Clover noted, looking about the room. “Whatever Merlot was doing down here, it stopped a while ago.”<br/><br/>The chamber around them - an observation room for a large, empty test chamber of sorts, festooned with long-abandoned computers and equipment, was the last room they had to search, and just like the rest of Merlot’s facility, it didn’t look like there was anything left to find.<br/><br/>Every chamber of the substantial research facility contained within the sublevels of the Merlot Industries tower had told the same story - through the broken bars of containment cells, the spent auto-turrets or the occasional fragments of human bone scattered around the place, the facility’s ‘test subjects’ had long since broken loose, and in all likelihood had been the first Grimm to begin the attack that saw Mountain Glenn lost for good.<br/><br/>As for getting anything useful out of the failed ruin - anything that hadn’t been stored digitally had burned or rotted away decades ago, and any digital storage devices present had been destroyed over the years, whether by Grimm or by exposure to the elements as the facility gradually fell to pieces.<br/><br/>“Where’d that thing come from, then?” One of the troopers asked.<br/><br/>“Our intel suggested he might be releasing some of his test subjects in Mountain Glenn and Forever Fall for some reason.” Clover explained. “They must have gotten into Merlot’s old facility through the tunnels.”<br/><br/>“The tunnels that <em>we’re</em> going to have to get out through.” The trooper clarified nervously.<br/><br/>“Yep.” Branwen confirmed, prodding at a tattered notebook left sitting on a desk, the words long since made illegible. His team had linked up with Clover’s once it became clear they were running out of rooms to search. “They’re not gonna give up these caves without a fight.”<br/><br/>“What do we do if we run into more of those mutant things, then?” Another trooper mused, nervously looking around the empty room.<br/><br/>“Simple. We kill them too.” The trooper’s sergeant standing beside him replied bluntly.<br/><br/>“Can’t argue with that.” Branwen agreed with a chuckle.<br/><br/>This was what their mission had been for the last hour - breaching and clearing, room by room, the dark spaces lit only by flashlights, all while distant growls echoed through the hallways.<br/><br/>The Huntsmen had split into their own groups, escorting squads of Atlesian soldiers as they wandered through the different sections of the facility, covering as much ground as possible as quickly as possible.<br/><br/>Fighting alongside them, the soldiers attached to search out the Merlot building had seen plenty of action. Their armour had lost its shine, and most soldiers had picked up a wound or two in the cramped fighting or while traversing the crumbling ruins of the facility, but they’d gotten the job done, killing lesser Grimm roaming the hallways and supporting the Huntsmen in eliminating the larger forms.<br/><br/>At times, relations between branches of the Atlesian military could be frosty, to put it diplomatically. With a General like Ironwood at the helm, simultaneously leading an Academy and a Military, there were always going to be accusations that the Specialists, valuable as they were, were being unduly favoured to the detriment of the rest, and when it wasn’t that, it was the Air Fleet complaining about too much money going to the ground pounders when they could obliterate any target from the air anyway, or the Army insisting that the Air Fleet’s Marines were taking too many resources from the <em>real</em> ground forces.<br/><br/>But in the field, such petty rivalries were quickly ignored. On the battlefield, everyone was on the same side, and it didn’t take long for the cooperating units to find themselves falling into the rhythm of working alongside one another.<br/><br/>The fighting had been tough, but the Huntsmen had held the advantage throughout. Though they could be just as disadvantaged as Grimm were in cramped spaces, the Grimm didn’t have the advantage of Aura to make up for their mistakes.<br/><br/>Kingfisher had come in handy in the cramped hallways, catching at Grimm and reeling them in for a quick finisher by his own hands or with the assistance of a little extra firepower from the troopers.<br/><br/>He’d caught glimpses of his fellow Ace-Ops and the other Huntsmen as well, moving through their allotted sections of the underground facility. Elm hadn’t had much of a hard time at all, crushing any of the Grimm she ran into with brute force, while Vine used his Semblance and held the Grimm down for his troopers to finish off.<br/><br/>Meanwhile, Branwen’s technique had revealed itself as nothing less than an art form - Clover had caught a glimpse of him as their teams had bumped into one another as their paths turned into each others, expertly switching between three combat techniques with speed, cleaving Grimm in half with a single swing of his scythe or blade, or even making use of his fists to pummel the creatures in close quarters. Clover got the impression that the soldiers he was escorting didn’t have all that much to do at the speed the Vale Huntsman was killing any Grimm he ran into.<br/><br/>Clover had smirked at the sight of that, feeling a little vindicated. Despite admittedly being more than a little abrasive, there had to have been a reason the higher ups in Vale had picked a loner like Branwen for the mission. And being able to use as potentially dangerous and cumbersome a weapon as a scythe-sword-shotgun combo with that level of skill definitely sounded like a good one.<br/><br/>A few soldiers had remained at the exit they’d found from the lab, doing their best to fortify the position in case more Grimm pulled in from the tunnels outside. So far, it looked like that was where the Grimm were coming from - tunnels torn open by force to connect the sublevels of the Merlot facility with Mountain Glenn’s caves as well as older tunnels.<br/><br/>Now that they’d completed their search of Merlot’s facility, that was the way they’d have to take to get out.<br/><br/>“I just don’t get it.” The trooper went on, peeking down at the pried-open containment cells in the test chamber below. “What kind of crazy do you have to be to try and study the Grimm? Everyone knows that always goes badly.”<br/><br/>“I don’t think this Merlot’s the caring type. Not one to let little things like people’s lives get in the way of his ambitions.” Branwen muttered.<br/><br/>“Yeah, but he had people working under him, right? Didn’t anyone try to warn anyone about this?”<br/><br/>“Some people never think bad things are going to happen to them. When you’re on top, when you’re the people who are going to fix everything wrong with the world, you don’t see the rug getting pulled out from under you - not until it’s too late...” Branwen had a distant look in his eyes - the look of someone who’d been proven right, but wasn’t particularly happy about it.<br/><br/>“Well, it doesn’t look like there’s anything to learn here.” Clover said. “We should get going.”<br/><br/>“This isn’t over yet. Hear that?” Branwen said, as more of the distant sounds of Grimm filtered through the walls. No matter how many rooms they’d cleared, the sounds had remained. “They’re probably waiting for us to come out into the tunnels so they can attack.”<br/><br/>“The Grimm aren’t as smart as they think - we know they’re trying to ambush us.” Clover pointed out. “So, we can use that to our advantage.”<br/><br/>“Quite the optimist, aren’t you?” Branwen mused, shaking his head lightly.<br/><br/>“I’ve been called that on occasion.” Clover conceded with a smirk. “I prefer to think of myself as a realist.”<br/><br/>Branwen would have had a retort for that, but that was the moment that Doctor Oobleck entered the room, flanked by the remainder of the Ace-Ops. None of them looked like they’d had any more trouble than Clover or Branwen’s groups.<br/><br/>“I suppose your search has been as fruitless as ours, Specialist?” Oobleck asked, glancing about the chamber stiffly as he moved in a blur between points.<br/><br/>Clover, who at this point had gotten used to the professor’s somewhat erratic way of doing just about anything, was able to quickly reply. “I’m afraid so, Doctor. Any more information about what happened here is going to have to come from Merlot himself.”<br/><br/>“Disappointing, but also somewhat reassuring.” Oobleck said. “If Merlot has moved all of his experiments to this island of his, then that will make them all the more easy to destroy.”<br/><br/>“Very well!” Oobleck exclaimed, readying his weapon dramatically before taking a large swig from the thermos contained within. “I think it’s high time we made our departure, yes?”<br/><br/>---<br/><br/>Branwen had been right - mostly.<br/><br/>The Grimm had been waiting for them, in their dozens, clinging to the cave ceiling or hiding beneath the surface. Others had waited in the open, scraping their claws against the cave floor, confident of an easy kill.<br/><br/>They didn’t get that chance, as Hare burst first from the exit of the sublevel, a lightning blur that raced out into the open, away into the tunnels.<br/><br/>The trap had been sprung.<br/><br/>Only a few of the waiting Grimm didn’t take the bait as the horde leapt towards the new target, rushing towards Hare as she dodged and weaved between the growing cluster of Grimm surrounding her.<br/><br/>That was when the rest of the group struck, bursting from the exit. The other Huntsmen killed any Grimm that had stayed behind while the ranged fighters and the troopers hurriedly poured fire in the direction of the Grimm who’d been lured by Hare.<br/><br/>This time, the majority of the creatures were Creep - experienced burrowers and ambush predators, with a few Beowolves mingling amongst their ranks. There were more of the mutants, as well, swollen Creep bristling with crystalline growths, hissing as they erratically rushed the Huntsmen, spewing strange waves of glowing green energy and bile about the place that seemed to add to the power of their attacks.<br/><br/>“Stay back!” Clover ordered the regular troops as the Ace-Ops leapt into the fray. The soldiers would be better off fighting the Grimm from a distance anyway, and he had no desire to find out what the strange green energy did to a person with minimal Aura when unleashed by the mutant Grimm.<br/><br/>Besides him the Ace-Ops and their allies rushed to support Hare as she ably dodged the Grimm pursuing her.<br/><br/>From a distance, Elm’s rockets dealt with more than a few of the creatures, blasting even the larger mutants to pieces before rushing in with her hammer, while Vine and Five hung back to support the regulars from a distance, warding off any Grimm that came close.<br/><br/>Doctor Oobleck revealed his own weapon and bathed a pack of Beowolves in fire, while Branwen sliced through swathes of the Creep with more of the same rapid swings mixed in with brutal strikes with his fists as Clover had seen earlier.<br/><br/>Before long, only a few of the mutants remained - while their mutations had made them erratic, they had also become larger and more powerful from the strange material that coursed beneath their flesh.<br/><br/>It wasn’t a long fight - with their numbers and their skill, freed from the constraining hallways of the facility, the Huntsmen had the advantage, even against the frenzied mutant Grimm. Before long, they’d made a steady advance into the caves of the undercity, and the guns fell silent as the last of the immediate threats fell to the Huntsmen.<br/><br/>“I think that was all of them, for now at least.” Clover said, looking over the last of the steaming corpses.<br/><br/>“Those things, those mutants,” Hare said, rubbing away beads of sweat from her forehead, “Something looked <em>off </em>about them, and not just with the green crystal stuff. They looked weak. Like something was wrong with them.”<br/><br/>“Hmm… I considered as much.” Oobleck mused. “While we only have so much intelligence to go on, it is likely that despite his decades of research, Doctor Merlot is still yet to perfect his work on the Grimm.”<br/><br/>“You mean these things could get stronger?” Elm asked.<br/><br/>“It is certainly a possibility. Of course, without direct access to Merlot’s research, I can only guess.” The green-haired Huntsman pondered.<br/><br/>With that, the Doctor turned, walking off further along the tunnel.<br/><br/>“Come along, then! These tunnels have nothing more to tell us at present, and our extraction point is further along!!”<br/><br/>---<br/><br/>“Once the surface layer of the city was fortified by the initial settlers, you see, the cave entrances were opened and Huntsmen cleared the cave network of Grimm, chamber by chamber…” Doctor Oobleck’s voice echoed throughout the caves as they moved.<br/><br/>The tunnels they passed through were more of the same - dank, crumbling service passages, old rail lines and sections of the old undercity. If they wanted to get out and back onto the surface, Oobleck had pointed to a particular area close by where a transport could fly in from the surface and pick them up.<br/><br/>It wasn’t a particularly boring journey from Clover’s perspective. The Doctor had more than a few pertinent anecdotes about the history of the city as they walked, and unlike some present, he couldn’t help but find the man’s encyclopedic knowledge of the city’s history a welcome distraction in the quiet moments as they made their way to extraction.<br/><br/>After their initial breakout from the facility, there hadn’t been many Grimm, and there hadn’t been any more of Merlot’s strange mutants. It was starting to feel like their operation today had culled a hefty portion of the city’s Grimm population. In less than a month just as many would probably be back, but it felt good to have bought Vale a little more breathing room.<br/><br/>It was there in the tunnels that they found the bomb, waiting for them on the old rail track.<br/><br/>Ironwood’s source had admitted the possibility that someone - probably Merlot - had seen to leave traps in the area of the undercity close to the facility - that in itself wasn’t particularly surprising or concerning.<br/><br/>The fact that the bomb easily possessed at least half of the yield of all of the explosives they’d been deploying across the city that day was a little more worrying. It was a huge thing, chained to a rail cart and glowing with an ominous light.<br/><br/>“Alright - this guy’s seriously got problems.” Five spat. “Who leaves a bloody bomb waiting for who knows how long to blow up…” the older Specialist gestured to the decrepit tunnel around them, “...absolutely <em>nothing</em>, ‘cept of course the poor bastards that run into it?”<br/><br/>“Can you disarm it?” Clover asked him as the archer gave the bomb a close look, all while being very careful not to touch any of it.<br/><br/>“Given all the time in the world and guarantees it won’t go off, <em>maybe.” </em>Five shrugged. “This thing’s been sitting here for a while - the mechanisms are bound to be falling to bits, which could either be a good thing or a <em>very</em> bad thing depending on which part fails first.”<br/><br/>“There’s no need to panic! Our mystery source told us that it was likely that the undercity would be booby-trapped. We have prepared for this possibility.” Doctor Oobleck insisted, all while looking decidedly twitchy around the immense charge strapped to the cart.<br/><br/>“Perhaps an alternative means of dealing with the threat would be best, then?” Vine proposed calmly from the side.<br/><br/>“Can’t we just leave - call in a transport and get out of here?” Hare asked, looking twitchy in the presence of the massive bomb.<br/><br/>Clover shook his head. “These tunnels are unstable enough as it is, and I don’t want to risk this thing going off before we’re at a safe distance from any shockwaves.<br/><br/>“The bomb <em>is </em>set up on rails - likely the means by which it was delivered,” Oobleck pointed out, “And the broken tracks drop off into the deeper caves. Perhaps pushing it down there would solve the problem?”<br/><br/>“Good idea, Doctor.” Clover agreed, “Elm, help push the bomb. We’ll clear a path for you.”<br/><br/>Elm grinned, “Shouldn’t be a problem.”<br/><br/>“Branwen- Where’s Branwen?” Clover asked. Among the crowd of soldiers and Huntsmen, the scythe-wielding Huntsman was nowhere to be seen.<br/><br/>“Oh, you’ve got to be fucking joking.” Five spat. “Where’s he gone off to?!”<br/><br/>“Don’t be too alarmed!” Oobleck replied cryptically, showing no particular alarm. “I’m sure that Mr Branwen has his reasons. No doubt he’ll return to us soon - perhaps once the highly volatile bomb right next to us is dealt with.”<br/><br/>For some reason, Clover couldn’t help but feel that there was a distinct <em>wink wink, nudge nudge </em>silently attached to the end of the sentence.<br/><br/>“It doesn’t matter. Team, let’s get this bomb moving.”<br/><br/>Oobleck was right - they had prepared for the possibility. While there were Dust supplies lying about the place, the Huntsmen had brought a few Dust energy cells with them on the off-chance of needing to power anything - including the cart carrying the bomb their intelligence had warned them about.<br/><br/>Of course, as well prepared as they were, they were still dealing with a bomb of immense yield. It was inevitable that more than a few Grimm would be drawn towards them as they worked to neutralise the dangerous payload. As their group began to move, they could already hear the sound of approaching creatures in the distance, mixed in with the echoes of a familiar weapon being fired. Wherever Branwen had gone, it didn’t seem like he was far, and he was still trying to help, by the sounds of it.<br/><br/>They came again in waves of Creep, Beowolves and Ursae, filling the tunnels around them and blocking the path of Merlot’s bomb.<br/><br/>Quickly, the soldiers and Huntsmen and Huntresses got to work once more, the melee fighters getting into close quarters while the ranged fighters hung back, dealing what damage they could from a distance.<br/><br/>The soldiers had been fighting all day, and there was only so much ammunition for each of them to carry. Some had discarded their rifles in favour of sidearms as they tried to contribute what they could to the fight, while a desperate few hung back, nervously readying combat knives and swords as a last resort if the Grimm got too close.<br/><br/>If the Ace-Ops had anything to say about it, it wouldn’t be necessary.<br/><br/>The Ace-Ops moved amongst each other, killing Grimm individually or helping each other out as they moved forward, doing their best to ensure that no Grimm got past as the cart moved further along the rail, the bomb beeping ominously as it moved.<br/><br/>Oobleck was with them, but his weapon wasn’t exactly a precise one, and the Beacon Professor moved alone through the Grimm, spewing flame all around him as he went.<br/><br/>“Deathstalker!” Someone called out, and Clover looked to see one of the large scorpion-like Grimm at the rear of the mass of creatures, slowly making its way in their direction. Other than the mutants and the King Taijitu from earlier, it had the potential to be one of the tougher Grimm they’d fought that day. Deathstalkers had tough armour, and the capability to inflict serious hurt with its stinger and claws.<br/><br/>Deathstalkers were resilient, but not impregnable. Still, it wouldn’t be a quick fight, and they could risk focusing on one target while so many others were still around.<br/><br/>“Deal with the small ones first! Just try and keep the Deathstalker away from the bomb!” Clover ordered.<br/><br/>Eventually, the Grimm horde that attacked them inevitably grew thin, and before long the Specialists and their allies were facing only a few still standing alongside the Deathstalker.<br/><br/>They took it down together. Clover’s Kingfisher held off a pincer while an Ice Dust arrow from Five saw the other pincer shattered into mist. A strike from Hare at its eye left the immense Grimm reeling, while a slap from one of Vine’s projected arms blunted a strike from its immense stinger.<br/><br/>It wasn’t any one particular tactic or finishing blow that took the Deathstalker down. It simply faded away under the unrelenting strikes used against it as bullets and blades hammered into its thick hide, again and again until it died.<br/><br/>Then, it was just a matter of pushing the bomb down into the deep caverns that sat below the broken rail bridge. One shunt from Elm, and the bomb fell, clattering against the cave walls for a few seconds before it erupted in a fiery explosion below.<br/><br/>There were more than a few sighs of relief at that. With that done, and no more Grimm around, it looked like their mission was complete.<br/><br/>“Well, glad that’s done with.” Clover heard Branwen drawl from behind. Turning, he saw that once again, the man had appeared from nowhere, drinking from that flask of his again.<br/><br/>“Nice of you to show up.” Elm called out to the Vale Huntsman, who looked distinctly shameless as he took another swig from his flask.<br/><br/>“I was clearing the path up ahead for our extraction. You were fine without me.” Branwen assured them, before the look on his face soured as a dozen glares went in his direction, coming from almost all of the other humans save Oobleck, who seemed almost… understanding, which Clover thought was curious.<br/><br/>“Trust me, you wouldn’t have wanted me around that thing.” The dark-haired Huntsman grumbled.<br/><br/>“Something to do with your Semblance?” Clover asked, and the look of surprise that briefly crossed Branwen’s face told him his lucky guess had struck close to the truth.<br/><br/>He hadn’t seen Branwen make use of an obvious Semblance during the fighting, which told him he either didn’t have one, or that it was one of the subtler ones. Something that made him nervous around unstable explosives, apparently.<br/><br/>Clover could understand well why someone wouldn’t want to talk about a Semblance like that. Branwen would be far from the first person to have a Semblance that could be described as actively inconvenient, whatever it was.<br/><br/>“Something like that.” Branwen admitted, quietly and reluctantly, “Look, can we get out of here?”<br/><br/>“Sure.” Clover nodded, turning back to his team. Whatever Brawnen’s issue was, he didn’t see any point in prodding the man when it was no longer relevant. Besides, he hadn’t been wrong - his absence hadn’t harmed the mission or those carrying it out.<br/><br/>They’d been through a lot that day - everyone’s uniform bore more than a few scuff marks and cuts, and they were close to running out of ammo, but most of them had made it, nonetheless. That only made the success sweeter.<br/><br/>“Let’s get out of here, team.”<br/><br/>---<br/><br/>There was a bit of a delay before the transports could come to the extraction point Oobleck had found for them on the old maps - generally, pilots weren’t trained for flying underground, but their pickup was on the way, at least.<br/><br/>Still, eventually, four of the Atlesian transports descended through the tunnels to meet them, landing in a large open space in one of the caves.<br/><br/>Quickly, the Atlesian soldiers piled onto the transports, helping their wounded teammates up as they prepared to leave the tunnels.<br/><br/>“I think we can call this a job well done, team. Minimal casualties and all objectives completed.” Clover told his fellow Ace-Ops.<br/><br/>“Well, you guys weren’t all that bad to have around. For Atlas Specialists.” Branwen butted in with a faint smirk.<br/><br/>Elm saw the man off with an eye roll. Five and Hare were a bit more… direct with the gestures they offered as a farewell to the strange Huntsman.<br/><br/>“That guy was an ass. Helpful, but an ass.” Hare muttered.<br/><br/>Clover chuckled faintly as the man vanished into the transport, slumping into a seat with a yawn. Despite the man’s abrasive nature, Clover couldn’t help but have a good feeling about him. He’d certainly been handy to have in a fight.<br/><br/>“I suppose that soon you’ll be moving on to the next part of your mission in Vale?” Doctor Oobleck asked, turning to the Ace-Ops as he approached the transport. Even after all they’d been through, the man had lost none of his exuberance as he swiftly glanced between the Ace-Ops.<br/><br/>“That’s right, Doctor. We’re going to be attacking Merlot’s island in a few days. Hopefully the information we have about his base will be enough to ensure we can arrest him and bring him to Vale for a public trial.”<br/><br/>“Best of luck with that.” Oobleck offered sincerely. “It was certainly quite disquieting to hear about what Merlot’s been up to. It will be good to drag him into the light. Finally get some good out of all of this.”<br/><br/>“This was a beautiful city, once.” The professor explained. “So many lives, so many dreams died with it. One of my great motivations as a Huntsman was to learn from the failures of history to avoid future mistakes. When Mountain Glenn fell, many took it that the mistake was expansion - that we’d never truly be safe from the Grimm away from a few select places. Merlot’s example casts some doubt on that assertion, I think. Were it not for his recklessness, I do not think it is too outrageous to suggest that life would still flourish in Mountain Glenn.”<br/><br/>Oobleck gestured to the silent, ruined structures around them.<br/><br/>“It would be good for the world to remember that <em>this </em>isn’t the only way things could be.”<br/><br/>With that, the Doctor turned and boarded the transport, the Ace-Ops following shortly after.<br/><br/>It was a hopeful message - one that showed Clover just how much the man deserved his position at Beacon. For all his eccentricities, those were the sort of ideas the next generation of the world’s protectors needed to hear.<br/><br/>The rest of the flight out was silent and tense as the transports navigated the cramped airspace of the undercity, but eventually they were all relieved by the light of the sun, as their transports rose above the city and back to their temporary base nearby.<br/><br/>Below them as they made their departure, Clover couldn’t miss how the city began to shake.<br/><br/>Mountain Glenn rumbled with the force of the detonations in the undercity, and from the crew compartment of the Atlesian transport, Clover could make out how several sections of the city seemed to sink, swallowed by the ground beneath as the cave sections and rail tunnels - the means by which the city could be used to access Vale - collapsed in on themselves.<br/><br/>For decades, Mountain Glenn’s ruined landscape had still been recognisable - a shell of the life that had once filled it. Now, as entire sections of the city sank beneath into the cave network beneath, only memories would tell future visitors that humans and Faunus had ever called some parts of the old city home.<br/><br/>Still, their objective was complete, and Vale was safe from attack.<br/><br/>Oobleck had been right. It wasn’t much of a satisfactory conclusion to their mission in Mountain Glenn - for the people who’d died in the facility and in the city as it fell, there wouldn’t be a happy resolution. As long as it was remembered, Mountain Glenn would never stop being a name associated with tragedy.<br/><br/>But by doing what they’d done today, they’d made sure that plenty of people wouldn’t have to worry about the same threat harming them. They’d done some good.<br/><br/>Clover hadn’t been entirely filled in by the General, but what he knew told him that these missions were important. If they were able to deal with more threats like this; preemptively, quickly and cleanly, and if everything went right, they might just save the world.<br/><br/>Of course, their business with Merlot wasn’t over. This investigation of theirs had just been the prelude.<br/><br/>With Huntsmen and soldiers like these at his side, though, Clover didn’t think the madman stood a chance against them.<br/><br/>---<br/><br/><b>Kuo Kuana, Menagerie</b><br/><br/>“And last but not least,” Ghira muttered as he rifled through his letters, “A missive from Vale - from Beacon Academy.”<br/><br/>Sat in their more modest dining chamber, the pair had been enjoying breakfast while Ghira went through the morning’s letters.<br/><br/>Kali raised an eyebrow between sips at her tea. “Beacon Academy? We haven’t had a message from them in a while.”<br/><br/>Ghira smiled as he shook his head. “Few that I can remember.”<br/><br/>As much as Kali’s husband liked to have time in the day where he didn’t have to think about his duties, going over his letters at breakfast was a necessity. In his position, the Chieftain of Menagerie could hardly waste time and risk ignoring important news that required his direct attention.<br/><br/>While Ghira was always devoted to his duties as Chieftain, the workload had increased ever since the White Fang (Or at least the fools calling themselves that - the White Fang of her day wouldn’t have done something so cruelly pointless and idiotic as what they’d been getting up to in recent days) had attacked Beacon.<br/><br/>Not only had Ghira been forced to assure the rest of the world time and time again that the government of Menagerie had nothing to do with any of that rotten business, the White Fang in Menagerie had been unwilling to offer any explanation for what had happened, claiming that they were as ignorant as Ghira was as to the truth of the matter.<br/><br/>Things had been busy lately, and Kali’s poor husband seemed to be the only one in any position of authority trying to find out what was actually going on instead of playing the blame game.<br/><br/>“Let’s see…” Ghira muttered, slicing the letter open with surprising delicateness before plucking out two sheets of paper from within. “There are two letters, here. One from Professor Ozpin, the Headmaster there at Beacon, and one from-”<br/><br/>Ghira went silent, as a mix of emotions crossed his face. He looked shocked, but also absolutely delighted, as a silent, immense grin came to his face.<br/><br/>“Ghira?” Kali asked, reaching gently for her husband’s shoulder.<br/><br/>“It’s from Blake!” Ghira stood up and all but cheered. “She’s alright!”<br/><br/>Kali found herself rising to her feet, filled with a desperate need for more information. Things with Blake had been bad enough in recent years ever since their… <em>disagreements</em> had started, but they hadn’t heard anything from their daughter in months.<br/><br/>It had made her so proud to have a daughter who cared so strongly for others, but it had been hard to hear Blake so angry at them for disagreeing with the White Fang’s new direction. What messages they’d had from Blake had gotten only shorter and shorter as the years went on, until they’d received none at all.<br/><br/>To hear that she was alright was enough to make her day.<br/><br/>There wasn’t time to wonder just <em>why</em> Blake might be writing letters to them via the Headmaster of Beacon Academy - that could come later when the thrill of knowing their baby girl was okay had worn off a little.<br/><br/>“Well, don’t leave me hanging, dear!” Kali almost whooped with joy, “what does it say?”<br/><br/>“She’s…” Ghira muttered, his tone shifting from surprise to outright confusion, “...hiding away somewhere in Vale-”<br/><br/>“What?” Kali asked, puzzled. “What do you mean she’s <em>hiding?”</em><br/><br/>Ghira’s eyes darted about as he rushed through the letter, peering down his reading glasses with an increasingly narrowed gaze.<br/><br/>Silently, the lumbering Faunus sat down, cradling the bridge of his nose and taking deep breaths.<br/><br/>It was more than a little worrying to see. Her husband had mastered his anger long ago. To see something unsettle him like this...<br/><br/>“Ghira?” Kali asked nervously. “What is it?”<br/><br/><em>Just tell me Blake’s fine. Let it be anything else, please.</em><br/><br/>“Everything is more complicated than I’d thought. I need to think about this.” Her husband muttered.<br/><br/>Gently, Ghira passed Kali the letter from Blake. Hurriedly, she read through what her daughter had to say. Her eyes widened as she rushed through the tale Blake had to tell.<br/><br/>It almost hurt to read. Blake’s tone was reserved and cold - almost detached, focused on relaying a message more than saying anything about how she was. The only words in all of it that seemed personal were a faintly written set of words at the end of the letter.<br/><br/><em>‘I’m so sorry.’</em><br/><br/>There was no denying that Blake had written the letter. The handwriting was unmistakable, and as proof she had mentioned things that only their daughter could have known. There was also no denying the regret that lay underneath the words - the hurt that Kali’s daughter felt.<br/><br/>The letter spoke about Beacon; about what that boy had done, about what she'd almost done. There was a terrible guilt weighing down the words on the page, and a terrible certainty that the White Fang couldn't be trusted.<br/><br/>It was obvious that something terrible had happened, and she got the sense that Blake was only telling some of it.<br/><br/>Kali just wished Blake had been there in Menagerie so that she could say anything to make it better.<br/><br/>“This is… almost unbelievable.” Kali whispered, rubbing at the fresh wetness around her eyes.<br/><br/>“I only wish it was.” Ghira shook his head regretfully. “I’d known Sienna wished to take things further than I had, but I’d hoped she would still be able to rein in the worst impulses of our cause.”<br/><br/>“What will you do?”<br/><br/>“I need to think. There’s still the other letter to read, and…”<br/><br/>Ghira trailed off before looking back to his wife.<br/><br/>“Whatever comes next, at least we know she’s safe.” Ghira mused. It sounded like he was trying to reassure himself as much as he was to Kali.<br/><br/>Kali didn’t feel as convinced.<br/><br/>“Do we?”</p><p> </p><p> </p>
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<a name="section0021"><h2>21. 4.4 - Shadows, Part Four</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p><b>Eastern Sanus, Kingdom of Vale<br/><br/>Four Months after the Attack on Beacon Academy</b><br/><br/>“There’s really nothing?” Ren asked, looking the merchant in the eye with quiet desperation.<br/><br/>The man, a middle-aged Vacuan with tanned, sand-blasted skin and a salt-and-pepper beard, wrapped in the sturdy clothes of an experienced traveller, shook his head faintly.<br/><br/>“I’m afraid not. My caravan has hired more than enough guards already, and there are no other jobs to go around.”<br/><br/>His caravan was a familiar sight on the roads up eastern Sanus - making a decent enough living selling goods of all sorts to the backwater settlements and selling what those places had to make to the ports that supplied him. Ren and Nora had made some decent money a few years back, doing odd-jobs with the caravan, back before they were strong or well trained enough to fend for themselves.<br/><br/>The trader looked apologetically to Ren. “Is there really no other work in the town for you?”<br/><br/>“Everywhere else had the same thing to say. There aren’t as many caravans going out, and the ones that do are paying for qualified guards.” Ren muttered.<br/><br/>“Then I am sorry.” The old merchant said with a sigh. “Truly. Perhaps you should consider quitting town? There’s bound to be work for two youngsters with your talents somewhere, just not here. Times are hard for traders and travellers. They don’t want to take a chance on their security when plenty of qualified Huntsmen are around, offering their services.”<br/><br/>“Maybe.” Ren bowed his head politely. “Thank you for your advice.”<br/><br/>“For what it’s worth, good luck.” The man said, “You two are good kids. I’m sorry I couldn’t be of more help.”<br/><br/>With that, Ren left the trader alone. He knew there was no point arguing - besides, the man had been a kind employer in the past, and had been far more polite than some of the people in town that day.<br/><br/>The boy made his way through the town’s open streets, steadily making his way to the meeting place he and Nora had decided on.<br/><br/>Around him, the town’s business went on, the main square bustling with traders and townsfolk browsing the stalls that filled the area, the air brimming with the scents of spices and fresh, hot food that made the ache in Ren’s stomach only feel worse, and he doubted tonight’s meal of vaguely warm beans and a pinch of salt split between him and Nora was going to make that feeling any better.<br/><br/>It was one of the larger centres of trade in eastern Sanus, and had grown fat and wealthy over the years because of it. There were well-stocked shops and fine houses with high walls to protect the people that worked and lived in them, and outside the town there was a sea of coloured tents put up by the merchants who flowed through the road heading north or south to conduct their business.<br/><br/>At a first glance, it looked like business as usual. But Ren wasn’t one to miss the details, big or small. He could see how the town was hurting on the inside. There were more guards on the walls, and they looked twitchy, clutching at scoped rifles as they kept a constant eye on the approach to the town’s gates. There’d been a lot of Grimm sightings in recent days, and the guard patrols had shifted from looking inside the town to checking out the outside.<br/><br/>A group of outriders on quick horses had ridden out the day before, armed with Dust pikes and well-fashioned swords as they scouted out the surrounding countryside. It’d been announced in the town square once they’d gotten back that Huntsmen were wanted for dealing with a large pack of Beowolves in the nearby foothills.<br/><br/>Usually, there would be twice as many caravans passing through this year. Some had decided not to travel - others had chosen safer journeys. Others had left one place to go to another and never been seen again.<br/><br/>News travelled slowly on the frontier, but Ren had pieced together the rumours after a while. Some sort of group of Faunus extremists had attacked a Huntsman Academy. That alone hadn’t gone well, but the violence that came after had been worse.<br/><br/>Now, there was fighting and rioting all over the Kingdoms and beyond, and that had brought the Grimm. Travelling wasn’t impossible, but it was harder, and that made life harder. There weren’t nearly as many jobs going around and with fewer jobs, more were going to qualified workers and fighters who knew what they were doing, which the two of them... really weren't.<br/><br/>That left Ren and Nora with nothing.<br/><br/>The pair of them had managed to scratch out a living in the few years they’d wandered alone together, doing odd jobs here and there and learning what they could to stay alive on the frontier. Eventually, they’d gotten hold of weapons, and learned to use them.<br/><br/>They weren’t anywhere near as good as real Huntsmen and Huntresses, but they could get small jobs done well, and Ren knew he could trust Nora to have his back any time.<br/><br/>Ren knew that they could get better - maybe one day go to an Academy, but for now, they knew enough to get enough work to survive.<br/><br/>That was what made this all frustrating.<br/><br/>Just a few months ago, things had been good. They could have been better, but Ren had been happy that he and Nora probably didn’t have much to worry about.<br/><br/>Now… things were different. There was work, but it was hard to find and rarely kept them paid for long. They had enough money to keep going for a few more days, enough to pay for food, equipment and whatever else they needed, but they were already stretching and rationing to manage that, and if they used up all of their ammunition keeping each other alive while travelling, that’d make finding work even harder. Without work, they’d have nothing left soon.<br/><br/>Walking through the crowds in the town square, Ren glanced longingly towards a stall selling fresh hot tea. A nice, calming drink had always been good for helping him when coming up with a plan, though Nora had always preferred hot chocolate or anything else that was sweet, which didn’t exactly make her any more focused. For the moment, though, he’d have to satisfy himself with filling a skin by the nearby river - at least that wasn’t going to cost him or Nora anything.<br/><br/>Ren sighed. He was getting close to the meeting point, and he couldn’t think of anything to do.<br/><br/>There had to be <em>something, </em>Ren thought, but then again, he’d been thinking that for weeks now.<br/><br/>The world had changed, and he and Nora had to change how they did things if they were going to survive.<br/><br/>---<br/><br/>It didn’t take long to find Nora - Ren knew he could count on his friend to never wander far.<br/><br/>She was sitting in one of the back alleys besides their bags and packs, tinkering with Magnhild. He’d say the weapon had come a long way from the crude cudgel it had started out as, but the weapon Nora now used shared a name and little else with the hammer she’d started with. It was still a rough-looking weapon, but they’d had enough to get that grenade launcher Nora had set her mind to a few months back when times were easier.<br/><br/>Ren had been happy to spend a hefty chunk of the Lien they’d saved up on the upgrade. His own weapons - a set of scavenged automatic pistols to which he’d fixed a pair of blades - were simpler, fitting his combat style well. Nora had wanted to add more to hers, and it had helped them on more than a few occasions already, even if the ammo wasn’t exactly cheap.<br/><br/>At the sight of her companion, the red-headed girl waved, grinning toothily as Ren came close.<br/><br/>“Oh, hey Ren! Did you find anything?”<br/><br/>Gently, Ren shook his head. “More of the same.”<br/><br/>Nora looked as sorry as he felt, but her smile didn’t falter as the boy walked over to sit with her.<br/><br/>The pair of them had grown strong and tough living on the road, Nora’s bare arms showing the faint hints of muscle the pair of them had that kids in the towns and villages weren’t close to developing, as well as the faint scratches and scars that inevitably came with their way of living.<br/><br/>Ren liked to keep his hair reasonably well groomed, but beyond washing and cutting it every now and then, Nora let hers grow wild and free.<br/><br/>Like Ren, her clothes were rough cobbled together travelling gear they’d picked up here and there over the years, but with a touch of personal flair - from the well-worn pink combat skirt to Ren’s green overcoat - that made the clothes fit them as individuals.<br/><br/>“So…” Nora asked, holstering Magnhild as she inched closer to Ren, “where’ll we go next? If there’s nothing here, maybe we’ll find something someplace else? There’s bound to be somewhere near where they’ll pay us to hit something!”<br/><br/>With a grin, she brought her fists together with a faint <em>clap</em>. Whatever the mood, Nora was always up for a little bit of friendly or less-than-friendly roughhousing, depending on who or what she was directed at.<br/><br/>Ren shrugged, unable to avoid smiling faintly at his friend’s ever-present enthusiasm. “Maybe. I can think of a few places, but… things have been the same in the last three towns. There just aren’t any jobs going around.”<br/><br/>Nora’s smile faltered for a moment, the girl looking thoughtful, before something came to her and she grabbed Ren’s shoulder eagerly. “We could take a ship, go find work that way!”<br/><br/>“I’m not sure the sea traders are going to be dealing with the Grimm any better than the ones on land.”<br/><br/>Besides, Ren wasn’t entirely sure he’d developed any decent sea legs. He preferred having some control over the risks he faced, and the sea was full of plenty that were well beyond him or Nora. She had been a little more at home on the waves, eagerly standing on the deck of the ship even in the middle of a thunderstorm, but that was Nora.<br/><br/>“Ooh, we could be pirates!” Nora went on, “But helpful ones!”<br/><br/>“I don’t think that’d go-”<br/><br/>“<em>Arrrr.”</em> Nora voiced, before a thought seemed to come to her. “But you’re right. We couldn’t be pirates. Since we decided you were basically a ninja-”<br/><br/>“<em>You</em> decided that.” Ren pointed out. “Technically, a ninja is-”<br/><br/>“<em>Ooh, wait!</em> I’ve got it!” Nora gestured frantically, the expression on her face telling Ren that she thought she’d possibly had the greatest idea of all time.<br/><br/>“You could be… a <em>ninja pirate.</em>”<br/><br/>Ren paused, failing to avoid the smirk that came to his features as he considered the idea. “That does sound… pretty cool.”<br/><br/>Wait, no. He couldn’t get caught up in Nora’s.... Nora-ness. Not right now.<br/><br/>“But we need to think of an idea. Maybe we can-”<br/><br/>“Me mechanical grenadoe hammer be enough to earn us plunder an’ glory on the high seas, partner!” Nora grinned manically.<br/><br/>“-head west - we’ve already seen how the coast is. Maybe there’s work there. Or maybe there isn’t.”<br/><br/>“<em>Arrrr…”</em><br/><br/>“There’s still a few spots here where we haven’t tried looking, though.” Ren noted.<br/><br/>He didn’t want to stay too long, not when their food and their money was dwindling, but he didn’t want to leave without making sure they hadn’t missed any chances to find some kind of work in the cramped town.<br/><br/>“<em>Weeeell, </em>if you want to get out of here quickly, we could split up?” Nora proposed, temporarily abandoning what he assumed was her attempt at a pirate accent (There were times when he regretted buying those movie tickets that weekend. He quickly stopped feeling that way whenever he remembered how fun it had been), “We’d cover more ground that way.”<br/><br/>He looked over at Nora - saw the gauntness that sat behind her smile. He probably didn’t look much better.<br/><br/>They had to find something.<br/><br/>“Sure.” Ren replied quietly, reaching to pick up his own pack while Nora lifted hers. “Meet you back here in an hour?”<br/><br/>“<em>Righty-o, matey! </em>The dread cap’n Valkyrie be back here at the agreed upon time.<em>”</em><br/><br/>“Sure thing, Nora. Good luck.”<br/><br/>“Bye, Ren!”<br/><br/>Ren’s smile wasn’t faked as he saw the girl off. Nora had a way of making things feel better.<br/><br/>---<br/><br/>Ren searched the last few spots - asked around with a few of the caravans he hadn’t gotten around to, checked with any of the businesses to see if they needed a helping hand.<br/><br/>He got the same answers again.<br/><br/>There wasn’t any more work to find in town. Huntsmen had taken all the bounties for miles, and the locals didn’t have any extra work to do.<br/><br/>He was right back where they’d started, and he doubted Nora had had any more luck.<br/><br/>Ren shook his head, and turned back through the streets to meet back up with Nora. There was no point wasting time thinking about things when they had to get ready to move on. They still had food for a few days - canned meats and vegetables and a few only-slightly stale loaves of bread, and their sleeping bags would keep them warm on the road, since they couldn’t exactly pay for a room at the local inn-<br/><br/>That was when he saw it.<br/><br/>Amidst the crowds of the town, there were plenty of stalls and businesses open and bustling with people. And on one of those tables, there was a purseful of Lien, lying abandoned. He hadn’t seen who’d left it, but he could tell that no one was looking.<br/><br/>No one would notice it if he took it.<br/><br/>Ren had never wanted to hurt people. He’d never felt all that much in the way of jealousy when he’d understood that most people had more than he’d probably ever have. Having Nora and not having to worry was enough. But this wasn't a question of having more. This was about having anything - about surviving. Even a little more Lien would keep them going for longer.<br/><br/>The seconds went on - seconds Ren knew he didn’t have if he wanted to take it without anyone noticing.<br/><br/>He remembered the words. The last words. The words that were always there.<br/><br/><em>Take action, son.</em><br/><br/>He thought of the hunger in Nora’s tired face, and knew that he couldn’t sit down and wait for the pair of them to starve. There wasn't really much of a choice. Not if he wanted to sleep at night.<br/><br/>Calmly, slowly, the boy breezed past the empty table and moved on. His heart hammered in his chest as he silently moved through the street, waiting tensely for the moment when someone would shout or scream and he’d have to run from the guards and they’d be out on the street or arrested and it’d all be his <em>stupid fault-</em><br/><br/>The moment never came, though.<br/><br/>Silently, Ren walked into another of the town’s quiet alleys, letting out a quiet gasp once he was sure he was alone. He’d done it. He’d done it, and no one had seen him.<br/><br/>Carefully, he rifled through the purse. There were a few Lien cards within, and nothing much else of use.<br/><br/>Ren didn’t regret anything as he walked away, pockets slightly heavier, as he made his way to meet back up with Nora. He dropped the purse in the streets - he had no use for someone else’s personal belongings - at least that way whoever it belonged to had a chance of getting something back.<br/><br/>It wasn’t a solution, but it was one less day they’d have to worry about being hungry. And it did have Ren thinking.<br/><br/>---<br/><br/>Ren started running as soon as he heard Nora shouting in the distance. He ran from street to street of the town’s cobbled path in the direction of her voice, ready to pull his weapons out if needed.<br/><br/>There were muffled shouts - someone was fighting someone, and someone had gotten hurt - Ren could tell that much from a distance.<br/><br/>“Oh, yeah? You want some of this, pal?” Nora defiantly yelled at someone, and Ren heard the distinctive sound of the girl’s hammer unfurling.<br/><br/>He rushed around the corner and found Nora, the girl gritting her teeth with Magnhild at the ready. Her back was laden with her own pack.<br/><br/>Facing her were a group of scared-looking local kids, older than Nora or Ren. They had the sort of surprised look on their faces that some people had when they’d bitten off more than they could chew.<br/><br/>Ren could guess why.<br/><br/>One of their number lay on the ground, clutching at a bruised face as he scrambled back to the safety of his friends. Clearly, something had gone down and that one had learned just how hard Nora could hit back when she wanted to.<br/><br/>Ren moved up to stand beside Nora, reaching for the girl’s shoulder, glaring in the direction of the others. That was enough to make enough of them start walking away.<br/><br/>He knew that Nora could probably have taken all of them even without her hammer, but it was probably a better idea to leave town without roughing up a bunch of the locals. The last thing they wanted was a bounty on their heads.<br/><br/>The crowd of locals swiftly dispersed once it became clear the pair of outsiders were armed and much tougher than they were, leaving Ren and Nora alone in the streets.<br/><br/>“Ren?” Nora spoke, breathing heavily. She looked and sounded angry.<br/><br/>“Come on, Nora. It’s time we headed west, anyway. There’s nothing for us here.”<br/><br/>“...Alright.” His friend muttered, stepping backwards beside Ren. She didn’t stop looking around for any other troublemakers, though, nor did she holster Magnhild - not until they were out of the town and onto the dirt track that led to the main road west.<br/><br/>“I didn’t do anything to those buttheads.” Nora muttered as they walked out.<br/><br/>“I know, Nora.” Ren replied, giving his friend a light pack on the back.<br/><br/>“They just started yellin’ at me,” she explained, “and I wasn’t gonna leave town without you.”<br/><br/>“You didn’t do anything wrong. I’m just sorry I wasn’t there.”<br/><br/>Walking beside him, Nora just smiled, a little of her earlier cheer returning. “You’re here now. ‘Sides, I could’ve taken them.”<br/><br/>“They definitely didn’t know who they were dealing with.” Ren offered a rare grin, and before long Nora was back to her usual self.<br/><br/>They ended up walking a ways away from the town before they stopped out at a clearing beside the road.<br/><br/>Ren slept a little easier that night. The Lien he’d taken wasn’t much, but it was enough to keep them fed for a few more days. And that was all that mattered. They’d find some better work eventually - they just had to keep looking, and Ren had a few ideas, now that they were heading west.<br/><br/>Ren could explain how he’d found the Lien in the morning. He wasn’t going to lie to Nora, and he was sure she’d understand. It wasn't something he liked having to do, but it'd give them the time they needed to find something.</p><p>He’d promised to Nora that they’d keep each other safe. He wasn’t going to let anything make him break that promise.</p>
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<a name="section0022"><h2>22. 4.5 - Shadows, Part Five</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p><b>Central Sanus, Kingdom of Vale</b><br/><br/>Nora grinned as the wind blew through her hair, the sun warmly shining down on the hills that surrounded the pair of them. The fun part about travelling, other than the chance to smash things, was seeing new and beautiful places, and this part of Sanus was looking pretty great this time of year.<br/><br/>Even with the heavy weight of her pack on her back, jingling with the noise of the pots and pans she carried, Nora found the strength and energy to hop from spot to spot as Ren walked steadily beside her.<br/><br/>They were somewhere on the way to somewhere - Ren had pointed out on the map he carried how they were getting closer to some town that had a real train station, and how that train station led to another town with an airship that’d be able to take them to big old Vale.<br/><br/>That was the new plan they’d come up with. Since it was tough to find work out on the frontier, Ren had thought that maybe it’d be easier to look after each other closer to the proper cities where things were safer.<br/><br/>Sure, they weren’t quite sure how they were gonna pay for all that yet, but they’d find a way. There was bound to be work somewhere around the area once they got to the town.<br/><br/>Right now though, they were stuck walking through the highlands south of their destination, making their way along an old dirt track that wasn’t really much of a track anymore, marked with really old piles of stacked rocks that showed them they were heading in the right direction.<br/><br/>A stiff breeze blew against the hills, keeping them nice and cool in the summer heat.<br/><br/>“So,” Nora went on, absently glancing about as the path headed downwards towards a wooded area, “I had another really fun dream last night!”<br/><br/>“Yeah?” Ren asked quietly, eyes glancing straight towards the path ahead. He sounded tired, or distracted.<br/><br/>Nora glanced sideways at her best friend, trying her best to smile. Pink eyes met blue for a moment, before the boy looked back to the path ahead of them.<br/><br/>Okay, it looked like she was going to have to keep trying to get Ren to talk. Nora wasn’t going to give up, though.<br/><br/>Ren had been in a bit of a funny mood lately, so Nora had made it her job (again) to keep morale up for the two of them. And if regaling Ren with her fantasies of conquest and plunder weren’t gonna cut it, Nora didn’t know what would.<br/><br/>“Yeah. It was really cool. I had Magnhild, and I was swinging it around, fighting this <em>giiiiiaaaaannnnt </em>Grimm that looked sorta like a snake-”<br/><br/>Of course, the Grimm in her dreams had been a lot scarier than any ordinary snake, but she wasn’t going to go tell Ren <em>that. </em>It was easier to focus on the fun parts of her dreams rather than the parts that had her waking up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat.<br/><br/>“What, like a King Taijitu?” Ren asked.<br/><br/>“Yeah, Ren, there you go!” Nora agreed with a nod, trying her best to commit the name to memory.<br/><br/>“But that wasn’t the coolest part, ‘cos Magnhild in my dream not only had a cool Lightning Dust dispenser thingy that meant I could juice up with power whenever I liked, but it also started producing cotton candy on demand!”<br/><br/>Yeah, that had been the good part of the dream. Some of her best dreams involved copious amounts of lightning and sugar.<br/><br/>“I think that would be… expensive. And unhealthy.” Ren said. As the official cook of the pair, he always liked to go on about food groups and proper nutrition and stuff.<br/><br/>That didn’t matter, though. She’d got Ren talking, which was still a win in her book. Ren was plenty fun to talk with when he felt like it.<br/><br/>“Yeah, obviously, but you’ve gotta have goals!” Nora replied, hopping down another step with a giggle. “Once we’re a pair of big, powerful warriors who can kick anyone’s butt, we’ll have all the Lien we need to go crazy with our weapons.”<br/><br/>She looked back to Ren. The boy had raised an eyebrow.<br/><br/>“<em>Okaaaay</em>, maybe no cotton candy dispensers.” Nora shrugged cheerfully. “But the lightning thing would be cool.”<br/><br/>“Yeah, it would be.” Ren agreed at last.<br/><br/>Eventually, they finally reached the bottom of the latest hill, crossing over into a part of the road that was overgrown with old trees that blocked most of the sun as they walked along the path.<br/><br/>Nora glanced back at Ren. She’d been glad to finally get some words out of him.<br/><br/>“Nora.” Ren hissed suddenly.<br/><br/>Stopping in her tracks, she turned to ask what was the matter. From the sound of his voice and the look on his face, something had him spooked.<br/><br/>Before she had a chance to ask, they came out from the bushes and behind the trees.<br/><br/>Warriors, wearing white masks and dark robes, all marked with red, quickly moving to surround them. There had to have been about ten of them.<br/><br/>They were a ragged-looking crew. Their clothes and armour looked like they’d seen a lot of use and seen much better days in the past, but they still walked confidently with weapons ready.<br/><br/>Nora didn’t exactly know who these guys were supposed to be, but she could guess. The thick furs and cloaks and the general state of them told her they’d been out in the wilderness for much longer than she and Ren had. That and the way they were eagerly waving their weapons about made it pretty clear that they were bandits.<br/><br/>Nora frowned. There shouldn’t have been bandits this close to big built up towns, and they weren’t that far from one. Huntsmen teams would usually jump at the chance to deal with bandits - only the really tough ones or the clever ones lasted long.<br/><br/>Something had to be very wrong if they were here.<br/><br/>One walked up to them from the front, his face entirely hidden behind a bird mask.<br/><br/>“You <em>humans</em> made a mistake wandering through here.” He said, sounding eager in a way that made Nora’s skin crawl. “The White Fang rules these hills now.”<br/><br/>The White Fang? That name sorta sounded familiar to Nora, though she was never good at paying attention to that sort of thing. Something to do with the Faunus, she thought.<br/><br/>Besides, they were wearing a lot more black and red than they were white, so the name didn’t really make much sense to-<br/><br/><em>Oh, right. Bandits. Want to rob us. Focus on that.</em><br/><br/>With a single swift motion, Nora unfurled Magnhild, grinning as the weapon’s shifting mechanism worked without sticking for once. She’d been meaning to have that checked once they got to the next town.<br/><br/>“We don’t want a fight.” Ren called out, grabbing his own twin pistols. The pair of them let their bags fall to the ground. They weren’t going to need them if this turned into a fight.<br/><br/>The masked Faunus laughed with the rest of the bandits as they circled around them.<br/><br/>“Yeah, well <em>we</em> do. Lien, Dust, weapons, anything you’ve got. Hand it all over, and don’t bother fighting.”<br/><br/>Nora found herself glaring at the bandit. White hot anger crawled into her head, and she gripped Magnhild’s hilt tightly, feeling the heady rush already setting in.<br/><br/>If they let them take their weapons and money - out here, that’d be a death sentence. Even if they evaded any Grimm that came looking for them, they’d be out of pocket and not able to make any decent money. And that was assuming they didn’t just kill them anyway.<br/><br/>Well, Nora wasn’t going to let that happen.<br/><br/>The silence stretched out as neither side made any moves. Time seemed to slow as Nora tried her best to think about what to do. They’d both been in fights before, even with a few adults. They’d been tough fights - trained adult fighters could make up for a lack of Aura with skill, and Ren and Nora were only just getting along to being able to hold their own.<br/><br/>Not that either of them had a choice to fight, this time.<br/><br/>Frustrated with the waiting, the leader of the group of bandits decided to make a point, activating the weapon in his hands - a hefty looking Dust mace, pointing it in the pair’s direction.<br/><br/>It crackled with the telltale sparks of Lightning Dust.<br/><br/>Nora’s face widened into a grin. This was something she could work with.<br/><br/>“Last chance. Give up, or die.” The leader yelled.<br/><br/>“Yeah, how about ‘no?’” She eagerly dared them, stepping towards the mace-toting warrior.<br/><br/><em>Come on, big guy, hit me!</em><br/><br/>If any of them were thrown off by her attitude, it didn’t show beyond a few shared looks by masked faces.<br/><br/>The leader shrugged, levelling his mace and readying for a powerful swing. “Don’t say we didn’t warn you.”<br/><br/>Sure, she made it <em>look</em> like she was going to block the strike, readying her Aura and raising Magnhild, but she could see where the blow was going to come and moved just the right way to make sure he’d hit.<br/><br/>It struck her in the shoulder, clashing against her Aura and flinging her back past Ren. Nora thumped against the floor, groaning with pain from the strike. It didn’t last - her Aura quickly saw to that as she clawed through the dirt of the floor to force herself back up. She did take something else from the hit, though.<br/><br/>She could feel the lightning, coursing through her. It was the best feeling she’d ever known.<br/><br/>It helped quieten down the panic inside her head; helped her focus. In that moment, there wasn’t anything else but Nora and her targets.<br/><br/>“Ren, move!” She yelled, and with all of her strength, Nora pulled back Magnhild and swung for the ground in a rush of singing metal.<br/><br/>Ren got out of the way in time, leaping behind Nora, but the bandits didn’t have time to realise just how much they’d screwed up before it struck.<br/><br/>Magnhild struck the ground in a blast of lightning that blew outwards into the crowd of bandits in a wave of crackling power. A few were out of the blast’s path entirely, while one or two managed to dodge. But the leader and those who’d been so confidently standing behind him?<br/><br/>They flew backwards through the air, striking the trees behind them limply and crumpling to the ground. The ones that hadn’t immediately been taken out were finished by the impact as their bodies smashed against the bark or the dry floor of the dirt path.<br/><br/>Nora heard a few screams and a few harsh words of panic from the bandits that were still conscious. Besides her, Ren was shooting as the stragglers got a hold of themselves.<br/><br/>Nora was just laughing. She’d bet they weren’t so keen on picking on them <em>now.</em><br/><br/>Glancing around, she took stock of how the balance had shifted. She’d taken a few of them out from the fight altogether, but there were still five of them standing - five adult fighters with weapons that were just as deadly as theirs.<br/><br/>Nora’s heart hammered in her chest as she moved. She didn’t have time to think about how <em>angry</em> she was that these people thought they could just run about, robbing people and leaving them to die. There was just the fight, and she couldn’t risk a moment’s distraction as she swung Magnhild about. But she was angry; so angry she felt it screaming in her head like lightning. It didn’t make it harder to focus, though. It made it easier.<br/><br/><em>You thought you could kill us? You were wrong, and now we’re gonna make you hurt.</em><br/><br/>“For Taurus!” One of them yelled, rushing Nora with a pair of shortswords. Two others followed close behind, the last pair going for Ren.<br/><br/>Nora did her best to dodge the first two swings sent her way, kicking up dirt as she hopped backwards, heartbeat hammering in her ears.<br/><br/>In the background, she could make out Ren in the thick of the fight as well. He didn’t fight like she did. Where she’d gotten used to making big, heavy strikes that did as much damage as possible, building up as much power as possible so she could make a critical hit, Ren liked to hit them with quick, sudden hits, moving quickly so they couldn’t hit back.<br/><br/>One blow from one of the bandits chasing Nora was met by a quick burst of gunfire from Ren, giving Nora a little breathing room as the three bandits tried to get around her.<br/><br/>She groaned as one of the masked Faunus got a hit in, clipping her in the shoulder with a swift strike that she felt carve into her Aura.<br/><br/>A few more of those, and she’d be done for. The pair of them might have had more Aura than most, but they were still young. There was only so much they could take before their Aura broke.<br/><br/>With a growl, Nora swung Magnhild around again as another of the White Fang fighters came in for another hit. Without the time to pull back, Magnhild’s full weight smashed into their chest, knocking the bandit out onto the floor.<br/><br/>At the same time, Nora caught the sight of Ren leaping upwards to deliver a pair of swift downwards swings that disarmed a bandit before finishing them off with a strike to their exposed head, smashing their mask into powder and bringing them down to the floor.<br/><br/>Nora would have cheered if her lungs let her. Ren had practised that move for months. They might have both been kids, but they could still pack a punch.<br/><br/>With that, there were only three of the bandits left, and two of them were hanging back, looking warily at the two young fighters. Only one - a tall fighter with a big curved sword, still had some of the same swagger from earlier as he moved up.<br/><br/>“You’ll die for this.” Burly-sword-guy promised.<br/><br/>Nora laughed faintly, despite the pain. That wasn’t a thing that was going to be happening. Not if she had anything to say about it.<br/><br/>She looked over at her friend, exchanging a glance as she readied Magnhild again. Silently, Ren nodded.<br/><br/><em>We can do this.</em><br/><br/>Rushing forwards, the pair moved to attack the last three bandits.<br/><br/>Nora sidestepped the big guy, moving for the shifty-looking pair behind him. Summoning all of her strength, Nora sprinted into a heavy strike for one of the bandits, beating past the fighter’s attempt to block Magnhild and forcing them to the ground, Aura shattered.<br/><br/>After that, Nora moved just in time to block the other bandit’s attack, the other attacker striking with an axe, the hit sending Nora stepping back, just about managing to keep standing upright.<br/><br/>The tall guy swung for Ren, a wide sweeping strike that missed the agile boy entirely, letting him get a quick strike in at the warrior’s exposed legs before pulling back, leaving the large bandit’s Aura flickering.<br/><br/>Meanwhile, Nora parried another strike from the other White Fang fighter, pulling the attacker’s blade away from him before suddenly pushing forward with Magnhild’s head, slamming into their chest.<br/><br/>The bandit fell to the ground and didn’t get back up.<br/><br/>Nora grinned. Now she could help out Ren and-<br/><br/>She turned to see Ren try the same trick as before, dodging the tall swordsman’s swing and going for his legs. Only this time the fighter saw the strike coming, and stunned Ren with a backhanded slap with enough force to bring Ren to his knees.<br/><br/>That was when the last bandit brought his sword down and cut through Ren’s right arm. He’d been fast enough to dodge most of it, but the hit still drew blood, and the boy screamed as he leapt backwards, backpedalling away from the bandit.<br/><br/>Time stopped. Magnhild felt light in her hands as Nora sprinted forwards.<br/><br/>“<em>Get away from him!”</em> Nora screamed as Magnhild rushed through the air.<br/><br/>The last fighter turned hurriedly, bringing up their own heavy sword to meet Magnhild’s strike. The two weapons met, and Nora felt herself knocked back by the force of the strike as he parried her attack.<br/><br/>“Nice try, human.” The lumbering swordsman chuckled, stepping closer and closer towards Nora, readying his blade for another strike. “But you’re all out of tricks.”<br/><br/>Gritting her teeth, Nora readied Magnhild. He wasn’t wrong. She didn’t have any clever ideas left. Everything ached, and her Aura felt weak.<br/><br/>But she couldn’t just <em>give up. </em>If they lost this fight and let these White Fang assholes rob them, if they didn’t kill them anyway, she and Ren were dead, stuck out in the wilderness without anything to stay alive.<br/><br/>That wasn’t going to happen. She and Ren were going to look out for each other. They always survived, no matter what.<br/><br/>Nora pulled her hammer back for one last swing, and rushed the bandit.<br/><br/>He didn’t move to parry, though. Instead, he dropped his sword to the ground and met Nora’s strike with his bare hands. She didn’t have the time to react - to move away, and quickly his hands were gripping Magnhild.<br/><br/>Nora groaned under the strain as the bandit struggled with her to seize Magnhild and disarm her. She had Aura left - probably more than he had, but he had strength and size. In a fair fight, Nora knew she’d lose.<br/><br/>But she and Ren had never learned to fight fair, and the bandit was too focused on grabbing Nora’s hammer to try anything else. That was a mistake.<br/><br/>With a swift, sudden motion, Nora brought up a foot and rammed it between the bandit’s legs. It didn’t take the guy out, but she bet it hurt, and that was enough for her to pull Magnhild out of his grip and start hitting the stunned bandit until he was down.<br/><br/>Magnhild swung down again and again and again. Quickly, the guy was on the floor, but Nora didn’t stop. She wanted him to hurt. She wanted him to never hurt anyone ever again.<br/><br/>“Nora!” Ren cried out. “Stop!”<br/><br/>The sound of her friend’s voice brought her back - helped her calm down. Nora stopped swinging and looked down. He was breathing, she thought, but he was definitely down, and his sword arm - the one he’d brought up to block her frantic strikes, looked sort of bent.<br/><br/>She didn’t regret it. He deserved every hit she’d dealt him. They all did.<br/><br/>Groaning in pain, the big Faunus backpedalled away from Nora once she stopped hitting him, falling back against the base of a tree.<br/><br/>As silence fell in the clearing, Nora gasped, breathing deep heavy breaths as she let her hammer sink to the ground, eyeing the crumpled forms around her.<br/><br/>There weren’t any bandits still fighting. It was over. They’d fought and they’d won. They were going to be okay.<br/><br/>She looked down at Ren, clutching his bloodied arm, and felt the anger come back.<br/><br/>With a flash of rage, Nora turned, willing herself to keep standing for just a little longer while she stared down at the bloodied and beaten bandits. None of them looked too hurt, but they were out of the fight for sure.<br/><br/>“How about this?” Nora commanded with a growl. “We’ll take <em>your </em>Lien, and then you’ll leave us alone.”<br/><br/>She wouldn’t ask for their weapons. It wasn’t as if she or Ren needed them, and they were better than leaving a bunch of people to die in the wilderness.<br/><br/>To prove her point, she switched Magnhild to its grenade-launcher function, pointing the weapon in the direction of the groaning bandits with a scowl on her face.<br/><br/>They didn’t need to know that in that moment she could feel how the mechanism had jammed and that she’d probably blow herself up if she fired it. She <em>really</em> needed to get that looked at, though.<br/><br/>Masked faces nodded hurriedly as several purses and bags rapidly accumulated at Nora’s feet.<br/><br/>“Good. <em>Now</em> <em>go away!</em>”<br/><br/>“Y-yeah, sure!” One of them hurriedly, nervously nodded, clutching at her arm as they moved to drag their wounded friends out of the clearing.<br/><br/>Before long they were all leaving, bloodied and hurt, glancing nervously in her direction as she kept the grenade launcher’s barrel aimed straight in their direction.<br/><br/>Nora didn’t let herself start shaking until the last of them were out of her sight and the sound of their footsteps running away got fainter and fainter.<br/><br/>Someone let out a panicked, strained gasp as she let Magnhild’s weight fall to the ground. It took her a few seconds to realise she was the one who was breathing all weird. She felt faint.<br/><br/><em>Well, that was a thing.</em><br/><br/>She chuckled faintly, rubbing at her eyes, which felt all wet and stung for some reason. That didn’t matter, though. They were okay. They weren’t gonna die. They were okay.<br/><br/>She and Ren hadn’t had a fight like that… ever. Nora was starting to think she’d like to go someplace where she didn’t have to do that again.<br/><br/>“Nora…” Ren muttered from behind her, drawing her attention instantly.<br/><br/>“Are you okay?” Nora asked hurriedly, rushing to Ren’s side. He was kneeling on the ground, and looked a little worse off from things than she was.<br/><br/>Silently, Ren nodded, clutching at his right arm where the White Fang member’s blade had cut through cloth and skin.<br/><br/>“It’s alright,” Ren hissed through gritted teeth, “Aura’s already healing it. I can stitch up the cloth next time we camp.”<br/><br/>Nora nodded, though at that point she was on her knees as well, trying her best to breathe nice and calm like Ren taught her once, ignoring how the rough dirt cut into her bare skin.<br/><br/>She just wanted to calm down, but everything still felt all wrong; like she was about to hurl.<br/><br/>That was when Ren moved over to give Nora a hug, gently wrapping his arms around her shoulders. He wasn’t really much of a hugger, usually; more of a huggee (that was a thing, right?) but it helped.<br/><br/>“We’re okay.” Nora whispered, gripping Ren tightly, taking care to avoid his wound.<br/><br/>“Yeah. We are, Nora.” Ren said, patting her lightly on the back with his good arm. “You did great.”<br/><br/>“You did a good job too, Ren.” Nora pulled away, letting herself grin as her breathing finally felt a little more normal.<br/><br/>Then she got herself up, using Magnhild to help push off the ground, offering Ren a hand up.<br/><br/>“At least we’re pretty good at the whole fighting thing, yeah?” She said, as Ren took her hand and stood up beside her.<br/><br/>Ren nodded, trying his best to get a hold of his own breathing as he scratched idly at his scalp. “I don’t think I want to do <em>that</em> again any time soon, though.”<br/><br/>Nora shook her head. “Me either. Come on, let’s find a spot to camp and see what these guys handed us.”<br/><br/>---<br/><br/>The fire crackled gently, lighting the dark space of the clearing they’d chosen to camp in that night. It was a little further along from where they’d been ambushed - far away enough that Ren thought they were safe.<br/><br/>Of course, Nora understood well enough that nowhere was really safe in the wilderness. They just had to hope that there weren’t many Grimm around in these parts.<br/><br/>The pair of them sat around the fire they’d made, buried in the warmth of their sleeping bags as they finished up what passed for dinner. Ren had caught a rabbit a ways back, and it had gone down well with some of the stuff they’d got already.<br/><br/>Nora sighed happily, setting down her tin cup and wrapping herself up in her sleeping bag. That had been pretty good - it almost took away the faint ache that was everywhere from the fight earlier.<br/><br/>Things might have been tough, but Ren hadn’t forgotten how to get a decent enough meal out of not much at all. Sure, Nora could’ve eaten more, but she could always eat more. Food was pretty great, and she was pretty great at eating it.<br/><br/>Plus, it wasn’t all bad news. Those bandits had handed over plenty of Lien when she and Ren whooped their butts - if it weren’t for the fact that she felt like if she slept for a whole week she’d still be all achy, she’d have told Ren they should rough up bandits more often.<br/><br/>Still, with the loot from the bandits and that Lien Ren had… gotten hold of in the last town they’d passed through, Nora was pretty sure they’d be able to afford to travel straight to Vale, now. It didn’t solve their problems - once the money was gone, they’d still have to find some way of looking after themselves, but it made things a little easier.<br/><br/>Ren had come up with the plan, but after those bandits showed up, Nora was more and more convinced Vale was the right decision. As much as she liked travelling on the road, things were getting pretty scary out in the wilderness for some reason. She thought they’d probably be better off finding work someplace where there weren’t roaming bands of bandits prowling the countryside.<br/><br/>“Y’know,” Nora said suddenly, “When we get to Vale, I think I’m gonna have one of those big piles of pancakes they say you can get in the city. With maple syrup and ice cream!”<br/><br/>Nora could picture it in her head - practically taste it - or what she thought it’d taste like. In reality it’d probably be even better.<br/><br/>When there wasn’t much food around, the next best idea felt like talking about food, even if it just ended up making you hungrier.<br/><br/>“I could go for some pancakes.” Ren mused quietly. Nora felt better already to hear just a few words out of him<br/><br/>Ren wasn’t exactly much of a talker most days, but tonight he’d been really quiet, barely saying a word, and when he did, he sounded distracted. Like he was thinking about something else.<br/><br/>“How’s your arm doing?” She asked him.<br/><br/>“It’s fine.” Ren replied tiredly, looking down at his arm. “Just a little sore.”<br/><br/>“Are you… okay?” Nora back sat up, looking over at her friend.<br/><br/>Silently, Ren nodded. “I’m fine, Nora. Really. Just… thinking.”<br/><br/>Nora frowned. She could guess what was on his mind.<br/><br/>When he’d explained what had happened, she hadn’t really minded then - she wasn’t really in a good mood when it came to that town full of assholes anyway. Now that she’d thought about it a little more, she still didn’t mind it much, but Ren clearly hadn’t stopped brooding about it. He did that sometimes.<br/><br/>“Thinking about taking that purse with all that Lien?”<br/><br/>“Yeah. I guess so.” Ren mused quietly, looking straight up into the night sky. “I just…” Ren trailed off with a sigh.<br/><br/>“I don’t regret it.” He eventually said, turning his head to look Nora in the eye. “I’m just sorry I needed to do it. I don’t like the idea of having to rob people to survive. I don’t want to be like those people who tried robbing us.”<br/><br/>For a little while, Nora didn’t have anything to say, no matter how much she wanted to say something. She sat up, pulling herself out of the sleeping back and gritting her teeth as she tried to find the words.<br/><br/>She wasn’t good at… any of this. Being direct. Talking about all those things that were just better to ignore than deal with. But she wasn’t gonna have Ren moping about something she didn’t really see all that much of a problem with. Nora didn’t want him to keep hurting.<br/><br/>“That’s not the same, Ren. We needed that extra Lien to keep on… y’know, <em>living.” </em>Nora chuckled awkwardly, fumbling with her words. “I bet you didn’t hurt anyone doing what you did more than not doing it would have hurt us.”<br/><br/>She pointed in the direction they’d come from - towards the spot they’d been ambushed.<br/><br/>“Look, what those guys tried pulling on us, earlier? That was bad. That was real hurt. I know we’d never do anything half as awful as that.”<br/><br/>Nora wasn’t stupid. This life wasn’t bad, but she could tell it had gotten harder and was probably going to get worse before it got easier. That meant that maybe they’d have to do things a little differently. It didn’t make them bad people.<br/><br/>Nora remembered what it was like to be alone, having to eat food out of the trash like no one ever should. If lifting a few pockets made sure they’d never have to do that, she was fine with that. They’d never be as bad as those bandits.<br/><br/>She’d leave that stuff to Ren, though. He was a lot better at the whole ‘being quiet’ thing than she was. Nora had other ways of looking out for the both of them.<br/><br/>She glanced over at Magnhild’s comforting bulk resting beside her with a faint smirk, before she remembered how the weapon was still jammed.<br/><br/><em>Oh, right. Still need to get Magnhild checked in the next town over.</em><br/><br/>Well, at least they had enough Lien for the moment to check on that, probably.<br/><br/>She hopped up and walked over to Ren, plopping herself down next to him.<br/><br/>“We’ll be okay, alright?” She said, gently patting him on the shoulder. Ren looked up at her.<br/><br/>“You’d tell me if we’re going too far or doing something wrong, wouldn’t you?” He asked quietly.<br/><br/>Nora smiled earnestly. “Of course I would, silly. We’ve always looked out for each other. Part of that is stopping each other from doin’ anything stupid.”<br/><br/>Ren nodded, smiling at Nora’s answer. “We’ve always got through things together.”<br/><br/>Nora grinned back. “Well, there you go. We’ll be fine, Ren.”<br/><br/>“Now c’mon.” She told him. “It’s my turn to keep watch. You get some sleep.”<br/><br/>Ren caught some rest after that, and Nora watched over him, sitting by their dwindling fire.<br/><br/>Nora knew they'd be alright. They always had been before. She just hoped that she’d said the right things.<br/><br/>---<br/><br/><b>A few days later…</b><br/><br/>“Aw, <em>come on</em>…”<br/><br/>Nora frowned as the glass window consistently refused to budge against her repeated struggles to force it open.<br/><br/>“Uh, Nora?” Ren probed gently, drawing her attention over to him. Silently, he shook his head, gesturing to the people around them.<br/><br/>Ren looked nervous for some reason, his pink eyes glancing between Nora and the other passengers in their train car. Some were giving the pair of them strange looks. Nora didn’t get that. What she was doing was perfectly reasonable in her mind.<br/><br/>The train they were taking to the next town over - the one with an airship that’d take them to Vale - wasn’t in bad shape. Everything seemed to be working smoothly, and it didn’t look like they were going to be too late.<br/><br/>The other seats around them were occupied by a few other people - it didn’t look like the train was all that busy today. That meant she and Ren had plenty of space, at least, letting them stack their bags on the seats next to them without complaints from anyone.<br/><br/>“I’m just sayin’,” Nora explained, “it’s kinda silly you can’t open the windows in the down-low parts. How are you supposed to stick your head out and enjoy how windy it gets in your hair?”<br/><br/>“I don’t think they were thinking about that when they designed the carriage, Nora.”<br/><br/>Nora huffed. He was probably right, and she didn’t want to get them kicked off the train. Crossing her arms, she lay back down on her seat, frowning at the stubborn window.<br/><br/>Still, it was kinda fun riding the train. There were great views, you got to where you wanted to go nice and quickly, you didn’t have to worry about bandits trying to murder you…<br/><br/>There were a lot of benefits from Nora’s perspective. Even if the stupid windows didn’t open properly.<br/><br/>“Not long now.” She told herself, stretching her legs with a groan. Everything still ached faintly from the fight and the long journey that followed - if anything, things felt worse now than before. Her Aura felt fine, and she was sure she could fight again if it came down to it, but she and Ren could really have used a little rest before they did anything else.<br/><br/>Of course, it didn’t look like there was much else to do on the train but rest. That seemed to be alright for Ren, who was the sort of guy who could sit down in one place with a book for hours on end, but Nora just needed to do stuff sometimes, even if she got that running about all hyperactive wasn’t going to make things feel better.<br/><br/>Ren seemed to notice Nora’s fidgetiness, reaching over to pat her hand. “Just one more trip and we’ll be on our way to Vale.”<br/><br/>“Yeah? What then?” Nora asked, scratching faintly at the table between their chairs. Sure, she knew they had a plan, but it started to get a little vague once they got past the ‘getting to Vale’ part. Of course, all of their plans had always started out that way and got filled in as they went, and Nora was sure Ren would find something.<br/><br/>Ren shrugged. “It’s a big place. We’ll figure something out. There’s bound to be something we can find to do.”<br/><br/>Nora nodded, counting off on her fingers. “I mean, yeah. I’m good at hitting things, carrying things, and I’m pretty good company! And then you’re a ninja, <em>potentially</em> a ninja pirate-”<br/><br/>Ren nodded sagely. He’d figured out he’d lost the ‘ninja’ debate several train stops ago.<br/><br/>“So, yeah. I mean, there’s lots of people in the city, so that’s lots of people who could use the services of two enterprising young adventurers like ourselves. Probably. So yeah, I think we’ve got this.” Nora replied with a firm nod, which seemed to make Ren brighten up a bit.<br/><br/>“I’m glad you think so. I’m… glad I’ve got you with me, Nora.” Ren told her. “I don’t think I’d have made it this far without you. Sorry I don’t say that more.”<br/><br/>Nora scoffed with a giggle. “As if you’d need to say that. I don’t need to be told how great I am. I mean, just look at me! And you’re pretty great too, Ren.”<br/><br/>Ren’s lips curled into a smile. “Thanks, Nora.”<br/><br/>Nora smiled back, before shutting her eyes for a bit. If she couldn’t bounce around on the train or stick her head out the windows, she might as well have tried to catch some much-needed sleep.<br/><br/>She was just glad Ren was a little happier. They had enough Lien to keep going for longer, now. It didn’t solve all of their problems, but it meant they’d have more time to think of something else, whatever that ended up being.<br/><br/>For the moment, though, they didn’t have to worry about any of that, and Nora was going to enjoy that breather as much as she could. Just because things had gotten harder didn’t mean that everything had to go wrong.<br/><br/>Vale was gonna be big and different from anywhere else they’d been before, but Nora wasn’t worried. They had each other, and that was what mattered.</p><p>
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<a name="section0023"><h2>23. 4.6 - Shadows, Part Six</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Apologies for taking so long to update - been having computer issues with Google, so I'm doing this from my phone. Hopefully I'll be able to update this more frequently from now on.</p><p>In this part, we see a familiar face in Argus amidst Atlas' predictably blunt response to the changes to the timeline.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p><b>Argus, Kingdom of Mistral</b><br/><br/>“I heard Coatl quit town with his entire family. Emigrated back to Windpath.”<br/><br/>“Did he have much choice, after his store burned down in the riots?” An older voice asked wearily.<br/><br/>“You don’t think it’s cowardice?”<br/><br/>“With how badly things are going up here, I think he had the right idea. There’s nothing we can do in Argus now but hide - not with the Atlesians here tearing us to pieces.”<br/><br/>As she listened from above, crouched behind the upper railings, Winter Schnee heard no triumphant speeches from the White Fang members crammed into the old warehouse.<br/><br/>The crowd of masked Faunus below were huddled together in the centre of the empty space of the disused warehouse, sombrely seeing to their weapons and chatting quietly amongst one another while they discussed their rapidly diminishing set of options.<br/><br/>There was, after all, very little for members of the White Fang in Argus to be particularly cheerful about. In the other Kingdoms, their movement’s numbers were apparently swelling as the violence grew out of control. In Argus, however, a small city in which the Atlesian military had established total control, there were few places to hide, and they had gotten fewer as time went on.<br/><br/>It hadn't been long into the rioting between humans seeking reprisal and the Faunus communities and their allies seeking to defend themselves that the Mistral Council had let the Atlas garrison take other security as the threat of Grimm attacks grew stronger. After that, things had not gone well.<br/><br/>Winter had thought putting military forces in charge of police work had been... <em>unwise</em>, especially under the command of Caroline Cordovin, an officer who looked at every problem she faced like it was a nail to be hammered with maximum force, and with a personality that had left Winter thoroughly understanding of why she had been posted far from Atlas. But she was merely a freshly-graduated Specialist, and decisions on Atlas' wider strategy for handling unrest were far from being hers to make; she didn't have the luxury of expressing personal opinions. For good and ill, what was done had been done, and Argus was quiet now, for the most part. Now, only the White Fang remained as a threat to the city.<br/><br/>The so-called ‘Loyalists’ might have won the squabble in Argus and many other places, but the fighting had exposed much of their once hidden network. Now, after weeks of interrogations, investigations and raids, the victors had one safehouse left in the city to call their own.<br/><br/>Not that much of this was on the Atlesian Specialist’s mind as she listened from a platform above. The facts of the White Fang’s circumstances in Argus had been repeated in briefing after briefing in the past few weeks working in the city.<br/><br/>Most of her focus was on planning her rapid descent into the midst of the White Fang members gathered below - how to make the most effective and intimidating entrance to secure the building with minimal violence.<br/><br/>She had no doubts about her capability to subdue them - after four years at Atlas Academy, with her training and her Semblance, she doubted there were many in the White Fang who posed a chance of seriously challenging her, and none were among the thirty or so insurgents gathered beneath her position. But Winter prided herself on efficiency in all things.<br/><br/>Narrowing her eyes, she saw the path she could take to drop down. Then, it was just a matter of waiting for her allies to be ready.<br/><br/>“<em>Sir, all units are in position and ready to breach.” </em>Her earpiece sounded with the voice of the leader of the Atlas troops quietly assembling outside.<br/><br/>“Good.” Winter whispered, gripping the railing as she readied to jump. “Enter the warehouse when I give the word.”<br/><br/>“<em>Copy that, sir.”</em><br/><br/>Leaping, Winter rapidly fell to the ground, gracefully making contact with the hard concrete of the Warehouse’s floor in full view of the gathered terrorists before her.<br/><br/>“What<em> the-”</em><br/><br/>Winter stood upright, calmly and coolly, levelling her blade in the direction of the White Fang members.<br/><br/>“In the name of the Atlesian Military, I request that you all surrender peacefully.” She requested with calm force behind her words.<br/><br/>Predictably, most of them didn’t honour that request. Some stood, dumbfounded at the fact that an Atlesian Specialist had just dropped from the ceiling into the middle of their safehouse. Others made to run. A few drew weapons.<br/><br/>“Huntress! Get her!” One of them - an officer, perhaps, going by the elegant designs printed on their full-face mask, ordered with a panicked gasp.<br/><br/>“How’re we supposed to do that, exactly?” One of the foot soldiers bit back, scrambling to run for it.<br/><br/>Winter’s lip curled into the hint of a smirk as she stood perfectly still, waiting for her opponents to make the first move.<br/><br/>“Breach.” She ordered calmly, as the first attacker swung for her with a blade.<br/><br/>It was a panicked, ill-disciplined strike - the sort of utter misunderstanding of sword-fighting technique that would have been dismantled entirely within a week of training at Atlas Academy.<br/><br/>Winter deflected and disarmed the first fighter to come at her with a mechanical, thoroughly-practised ease. Others came and tried the same, but the Specialist moved quickly and powerfully to repel any attacks that came in her direction.<br/><br/>A few fired pistols, rifles and shotguns, but Winter moved with haste, dodging or deflecting bullets with the speed her Semblance allowed her, leaping amidst the crowd of armed Faunus to disarm each armed warrior while the others scrambled and panicked around her.<br/><br/>They weren’t trained or equipped to take on a fighter like her, and they certainly weren’t prepared to take on what was following her, either.<br/><br/>No strike was wasted or missed - all were purposeful and well-directed, and before long, nine of the White Fang fighters lay groaning at Winter’s feet, all while the others stared dumbstruck in her direction.<br/><br/>“What do we do?” One of them screeched.<br/><br/>That was when the entrances burst open, as the other forces at Winter’s disposal breached the safehouse. From the ground entrances, squads of Atlesian soldiers poured in, flanked by even larger groups of AK-130 drones, all bristling with weaponry.<br/><br/>Some of the White Fang members’ heads swung rapidly around as they looked for any way to escape. Eventually, they were corralled towards their original position, with the Atlesians surrounding the mob of fighters.<br/><br/>A few looked down at the weapons Winter had scattered down at the floor.<br/><br/>“Don’t even think about it!” One of the Atlas troopers barked, aiming a hefty rifle in the direction of the crowd of White Fang.<br/><br/>Meanwhile, other teams cleared the rest of the warehouse, scanning crates and checking for any traps.<br/><br/>To emphasise the severity of their circumstances, Winter twirled her free hand as she drew on the power of her Semblance. Quickly, four pale beowolves rose from the ground to stand alongside the Atlesian soldiers, growling hungrily as they circled the mass of White Fang members. If any of the Atlas soldiers were thrown off by the presence of the not-Grimm, they didn't show it. After weeks of operations like this, they'd gotten used to the quirks of the Schnee Semblance in use.<br/><br/>“I repeat my request that you surrender. Atlas forces have this building surrounded. This request will <em>not </em>be repeated a second time.” Winter explained icily, voice carrying through the large space of the warehouse with ease. “I assure you, we are more than capable of neutralising each and every one of you through force.”<br/><br/>The silence stretched out, as masked faces glanced between the heavily armed forces now surrounding them.<br/><br/>Then blades and guns started dropping to the ground as the White Fang members disarmed themselves and raised their hands.<br/><br/>“What are you doing?” One cried out, before being forcibly relieved of his weapon by another of the masked terrorists, who threw the blade to the hard floor.<br/><br/>“<em>Surviving</em>, you idiot.” One among the crowd sighed through gritted teeth. “There’s nothing else we can do.”<br/><br/>Winter allowed herself a faint sigh of relief. Other safehouses they had breached in argusArgus had been less receptive. Many White Fang fighters had rather fought, or turned their weapons against themselves.<br/><br/>“You’ve made the right choice.” Winter told them, before turning to the Atlas soldiers entering the building.<br/><br/>“Lieutenant,” Winter ordered her subordinate, “Restrain them and ready them for transport.”<br/><br/>The helmeted trooper complied with a nod. Quickly, his cohort of soldiers had cuffed and secured the 30 or so White Fang members inside the safehouse. Only then did Winter sheathe her blade and allow her summons to fade away, satisfied for the moment that they had little way of causing trouble.<br/><br/>“Take these prisoners to the transport.” The Lieutenant ordered the drones around them as the prisoners were handed over to the custody of the mechanical troops.<br/><br/>“<em>Yes, sir.” </em>The almost skeletal machine replied in its artificial tone. In moments it and its fellow drones were ferrying the cuffed White Fang members out of the safehouse.<br/><br/>Meanwhile, the Lieutenant commanding the troops around her once again moved to speak with her.<br/><br/>“Ma’am. We’ve secured the perimeter. Doesn’t look like any of them got away. So far, we’ve been able to find no obvious traps. Should be safe for the <em>spooks</em>-” Winter’s eyes narrowed, and the enforcer stuttered. “-Uh, I mean intelligence operatives to begin their investigation.”<br/><br/>She didn’t particularly object to the soldier’s choice of wording. Captain Fannar was arguably the very definition of the term - seeing to his work of dismantling the White Fang’s network in Argus with dispassionate efficiency. But certain standards had to be kept up, especially when said Captain was almost within earshot.<br/><br/>“Very good.” Winter nodded, noting the efficiency with which the safehouse was already being thoroughly and carefully searched around her.<br/><br/>With that, Winter took her leave, walking out to the main exit into the warmth of Argus, the city’s streets bathed in summer sunshine.<br/><br/>Around her, Atlesian transports were now landing in the street beyond. Squads of AK-130 drones were keeping the road clear of civilian traffic and pedestrians, allowing the Atlesian troops to stream into the building without disruption as they extracted the new prisoners. Around them, the people of Argus had grown used to the presence of Atlesian troops on their streets, and no one made a commotion beyond a few curious or contemptuous glances as the soldiers went about their work.<br/><br/>In the distance, a faint voice boomed through the streets, projected by military-grade loudspeakers placed throughout the city. They had originally been intended for use in alerting the people to a Grimm attack.<br/><br/>Now, they had a different purpose.<br/><br/>“<em>Citizens of Argus! Today, your protectors in the Atlesian Military have struck another blow to the dangerous and savage White Fang, and taken another step in guaranteeing your peace and security! Today is a day that all in the city should celebrate as another step along the road to order...”</em></p><p>Specialist Cordovin was at the very least not an outright incompetent officer. However, the aging Specialist undoubtedly loved to hear the sound of her own voice, especially when it came to praising the merits of their Kingdom. While Winter had chosen her temporary posting in Argus, Caroline Cordovin certainly hadn’t, and Winter had rapidly come to understand why that was.<br/><br/>While many in the Argus garrison harboured quiet concerns about the force Cordovin had been authorised to exert in the past few months, most were nonetheless quietly elated to now be out of the elderly Specialist’s immediate presence most of the time. That was another sentiment Winter had quickly decided she shared with them.<br/><br/>By habit, Winter tuned out the distant voice of Atlas’ military leader in Argus as she approached the person she was looking for among the crowd of soldiers.<br/><br/>Captain Fannar waited beside his group’s freshly-landed transport, the intelligence officer scrutinising the operation from the sidelines. At the sight of Winter, the man practically bounced on his feet as he walked over to her.<br/><br/>“Captain,” Winter greeted the officer, “You’re now free to investigate the safehouse.”<br/><br/>“Glad to hear it, Specialist. You’ve been efficient, as always. Quick and clean.” Fannar replied gratefully, a certain hungry cheer filling his voice as he gestured to the transport behind him. “My team will be getting our equipment in shortly. Hopefully the White Fang haven’t left too many surprises for us inside.”<br/><br/>Winter nodded silently, watching as the intelligence team disembarked from their own transport, each member unarmed, but bristling with all manner of advanced equipment they’d shortly be using to tear the safehouse apart for anything useful to their investigations.<br/><br/>“With this wrapped up, you’ll be heading back to Atlas, I expect, Specialist Schnee?” Fannar asked while they waited with a good humour to his tone that she was rapidly finding irritating to listen to.<br/><br/>“That’s correct, Captain.” Winter replied, calmly and neutrally. No one noticed the subtle clench of her gloved fists as she spoke.<br/><br/>Winter quashed the resentful thoughts as soon as they emerged. There was no place for that. Not here. She had to focus on the matter at hand.<br/><br/>If the Captain noticed any sign of her momentary distraction, he didn’t seem to make any note of it.<br/><br/>“Almost a shame, really.” Fannar mused. “This was a good hunt. We’ve caught more White Fang in the last few weeks than we have in months.”<br/><br/>Winter made no particular show of how she felt at that sentiment, looking straight ahead as she considered her words.<br/><br/>“Hopefully these will be the last we’ll have to deal with in Argus for some time, Captain.” She replied diplomatically, feeling faint relief to see that the prisoner transport she’d be taking back to base was now full.<br/><br/>With that, Winter took her leave. Salutes were exchanged, and Winter left the Captain to his work.<br/><br/>---<br/><br/>Winter quietly glanced back from the cockpit of the transport, into the bay filled with cuffed prisoners, separated by a soundproofed layer of glass. She was happy to note that no one seemed eager to cause any trouble as they flew.<br/><br/>Of course, they had to know that it wasn’t a long flight back to base. There were little to no chances that anything they could do would get them out of Atlesian custody in a city thoroughly controlled by the Atlesian military.<br/><br/>Satisfied there was nothing to do, Winter allowed herself to settle into her seat as the transport quickly gained altitude and speed, rising above the city of Argus.<br/><br/>There was still a great deal to deal with once she’d returned to base before her assignment could properly be called complete. Escorting the prisoners to more permanent cells and preparing reports for Specialist Cordovin and General Ironwood; then it was a matter of awaiting transport home and packing what few possessions she’d brought with her to Argus.<br/><br/>To be perfectly frank, though, Winter Schnee was mostly looking forward to getting something resembling a halfway decent cup of coffee when this was all over and done with. The last few weeks had certainly made for satisfying work, but they had been busy and tiring.<br/><br/>There was a certain charm in military rations after a lifetime of irritatingly fine food, but they had yet to win her over with the instant coffee brand preferred by the military. For that, she had a number of quiet cafes in mind for the rare days her superiors all but forced her to take leave.<br/><br/>If she had the time before departure, Winter thought of allowing herself that small luxury, now that her business in Argus was concluded, satisfied that she and the Atlas military had fulfilled the task they had been called upon to fulfill.<br/><br/>If all went according to plan, the White Fang would be hard-pressed to regain a foothold in Argus any time soon.<br/><br/>With luck, she’d be able to find another overseas assignment quickly once she returned to Atlas - General Ironwood had been supportive of her requests to join Atlas’ new international peacekeeping efforts. The sooner she was able to get out of being stuck in Atlas, the better.<br/><br/>Winter was shaken from her thoughts as the pilot seated beside her seemed to glance at something she couldn’t quite see from her position, as something in the transport’s instruments started <em>beeping </em>sharply.<br/><br/>Suspecting trouble, she was about to ask what the pilot saw - Of course, that was when the rocket struck the side of the transport, and everything went downhill from there.</p><p> </p><p> </p>
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